Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua is fighting to retain the loyalty of key political figures with the threat of losing the gains he has made in the past year since his impeachment in October 2024.
This comes at a time President William Ruto has intensified efforts to reclaim support in the Mt Kenya region, which is the former Deputy President’s stronghold, with a UDA meeting at the Sagana State Lodge in Meru yesterday being the latest. Conspicuous at the event was Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, an ally of Mr Gachagua, who also recently raised eyebrows by accompanying the President during a recent event in the county. In the meantime, Mr Gachagua retreated to the Coast for a three-day retreat with allied politicians.
Those who have dumped him in recent months, mostly in favour of President Ruto, say Mr Gachagua and his DCP are making lives difficult. They point to leadership style, financial strain, confusion in the party, conflict with rivals and pressure from the State.
While Mr Gachagua says those abandoning him are self-seekers out to make money out of UDA’s 2027 survival strategy, many say the Wamunyoro powerhouse is facing many challenges.
“It is true that I have been losing some of my foot soldiers. But this is nothing to worry about... The biggest problem in my camp is infiltration by spies, poaching by state machinery, and the party becoming too big for some joyriders who have to exit while making noise to justify their decamping,” Mr Gachagua said on January 12, 2026, during an interview on Kameme TV.
“I started well with more than 20 foot soldiers when I was impeached, but so far we have diminished... We will soldier on and I hope voters are taking note.”
For a man who was hounded out of office after serving for only two years, Mr Gachagua has built a reputation as a robust political player leading the opposition’s battle against President Ruto and seeking to consolidate the Mt Kenya vote.
But in the process, some loyalists have been leaving his corner, the most recent being Juja MP George Koimburi.
DCP Party Leader Rigathi Gachagua (centre) accompanied by Nyandarua Senator John Methu and other leaders arrive for the burial of John Muhia, father to Kipipiri MP, Wanjiku Muhia in Malewa Ranch in Nyandarua County on January 7, 2026.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Apart from Mr Koimburi, others, especially from his backyard, who were close to Mr Gachagua but have abandoned him include Maragua MP Mary wa Maua, Kangema MP Peter Kihungi, Runyenjes MP Muchangi Karemba, Githunguri MP Gathoni wa Muchomba and Embu Woman Representative Njoki Njeru, among several others. Some have also gone quiet, with questions raised about their stand.
If the exit of his allies is anything to go by, January is proving to be a bad month for Mr Gachagua.
Two of his senior party officials have already engaged reverse gear, and it is only a matter of time before they announce it, Sunday Nation has learnt.
One has a scheduled press conference on Monday, while the other is reportedly scheduled to attend a meeting at State House next week. The pair had an acrimonious falling-out with the President after the Gen Z revolt, and their return would confirm the fluidity of politics.
But while Mr Gachagua has been claiming that the loyalty flight he is facing is from external forces, there are those who claim that there are issues on the inside.
Mr Koimburi, for example, argues that DCP “is turning out to be a dictatorial outfit where you risk getting conned with the promise of a party ticket.”
Juja MP George Koimburi.
Photo credit: File Nation Media Group
“Gachagua and DCP represent conmanship and deceit where, if not keen, you will also be extorted. I was betrayed by both Gachagua and DCP... the party received Sh5 million from another aspirant so that I can be thrown under the bus in Juja. The party is selling 2027 contest tickets to the highest bidders,” Mr Koimburi told Sunay Nation on Friday.
He said the party leadership is erratic “and can put you in serious trouble with both the law and the support base.”
But Mr Gachagua’s DCP dismissed Mr Koimburi as a man struggling to make a political impact and who wanted to be favoured by being given a direct ticket to contest in Juja.
Through a January 16 statement by DCP Secretary General Hezron Obaga, the MP was accused of bolting because he sought a direct ticket in the 2027 polls, a request the party turned down as undemocratic and unacceptable.
Mr Koimburi, on his part, now says his current commitment is to go to President Ruto “and get my share of Juja development projects since aligning with Gachagua risks my political career.”
Nyandarua Senator John Methu says the incumbent is stirring the political waters of DCP and the united opposition formation in general.
Nyandarua County Senator John Muhia Methu during the press conference at Parliament buildings Nairobi on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo| Nation Media Group
“The president’s muscle is all over, courting and influencing opposition leaders to abandon the Wantam movement (in reference to the push to make Dr Ruto a one-term President) and support his re-election bid. I have been a target. The plot is big, where Mt Kenya is being courted through money, intimidation, violence and threats of court cases,” he told Sunday Nation on Friday.
Maragua MP Mary wa Maua, on her part, says she will only make her final decision next year after staying away from Mr Gachagua despite previous support.
“The issue of where I am or not ahead of 2027 can only be answered by the contract that I have with my constituents. I was elected to represent the people until 2027. It is only after the campaign season sets in next year when you can ask me whether I have considered aligning myself outside President Ruto and the UDA fold. Gachagua can continue playing his politics as per his strategies and let me serve my full social contract with the people,” Ms wa Maua told Nation on January 14.
Mr Methu, a key Gachagua ally, dismissed those who have left.
“Many are succumbing, especially those who are vulnerable through having criminal cases, those who have done business with the government and whose pending bills have been withheld. There are also others who are typical cowards,” he said.
One of Mr Gachagua’s key allies that President Ruto appears to have launched an all-out win-back strategy against is Nyeri Governor Kahiga.
The governor has hosted President Ruto in three key functions in one week alone, the latest being on Saturday when the governor played a key role during a UDA meeting the President had with 17,000 grassroots leaders.
President William Ruto (left) with Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga during a church service at ACK St Paul’s Church in Othaya, Nyeri County on January 11, 2026.
Photo credit: PCS
During the meeting, and though Mr Kahiga did not come out to chant the two-term slogan to back Dr Ruto’s re-election bid, he repeated his position that he was a UDA-elected leader, backed the President, and promised that he would back the Ruto 2027 bid “if he completes the projects he has promised us in Nyeri.”
“This is our government, this is our president and UDA is our party, all of which we must help carry along allied agendas.”
The declaration immediately attracted celebratory emotions from President Ruto loyalists in the mountain.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri said another key reason Mr Gachagua is suffering from diminishing influence is because of “Wamunyoro theatrics that are breeding fatigue.”
“I told you that by 2027 this mountain will be aligned to President Ruto as our candidate of choice. Gachagua and his disciples will stand defeated, shamed and whipped to wisdom,” Mr Kiunjuri said.
“This is a big win for us because Governor Kahiga has seen the light and joined our President in working for this country. We are particularly appreciative that this win is happening in the backyard of Mr Gachagua,” he said.
“I would sincerely love that President Ruto and Mr Gachagua reconcile and chart a 2027 pact. It is difficult for us, in our legislative duties, to achieve anything for ourselves and our people while fighting with the government. That is the raw truth,” he said during a meeting in Kangema constituency on January 13, 2026.
“President Ruto and Mr Gachagua are people of immense influence and my dream is to see both experiencing a convergence point,” he said.
Others like Mr Gachagua’s former communications manager, Mr Wambugu Ngunjiri, say:
“Mr Gachagua is difficult to work with — his attitude, his dictatorship. (It is) only his word that counts, and that is the reason why he could not even remain loyal to himself in his deputy presidency.”
Mr Wambugu, the former Nyeri Town MP, told the Sunday Nation on Saturday that
Mr Wambugu dismissed Gachagua’s insistence that he (Mr Wambugu) is a political broker hiding in Jubilee but promoting ideals of the incumbent.
“I ran away from Gachagua’s unappealing personality and political character. The kind of politics Gachagua is practising is alienating the Mt Kenya community from other Kenyans,” he said.
He added that Gachagua is creating political enmity within the community by labelling those who disagree with him politically or personally as ‘enemies of the community as a whole’, while in reality they are purely his enemies as an individual.
But Mr Gachagua, in his Kameme TV interview, dismissed Mr Wambugu as
“that man I helped, he was bought and he betrayed me.”
He added: “I have constantly cautioned and reminded Dr (Fred) Matiang’i (of the Jubilee Party) that with friends like Ngunjiri, his presidential bid will be a miscarriage, and I have left it at that.”
Githunguri MP Gathoni wa Muchomba, who was a strong supporter of the former Deputy President during the impeachment, this week went on a tirade against Mr Gachagua.
“My decision to jump out of Gachagua’s wing was a self-conscious decision that made me embrace a more national approach to politics,” she said, later adding in a social media post earlier this week that Mr Gachagua was trying to herd all Mt Kenya leaders into one corner.
“What separates us is the need for service delivery for our people over politicking. I cannot accept people insulting Gachagua in my meetings just as I cannot accept people insulting the president. That is the balance we must strike as we wait for politics to be declared an official season,” said Ms Mukami.
Another aspect that is making Mr Gachagua suffer loyalty flight has been identified in the ongoing Uhuru Kenyatta inroads in Mt Kenya. New Gema chairman Mr Isaac Mungai says this has provided a viable alternative.
Naivasha MP Ms Jayne Kihara, a Gachagua ally, questioned why Mr Kenyatta appeared to be working against Mr Gachagua’s unity push.
