Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua addressing his supporters in Kikuyu Town on April 11, 2026.
As President William Ruto’s loyalists continue to search for a formula to tame Rigathi Gachagua’s grip on Mt Kenya region voters ahead of the 2027 General Election, at least 12 strategies are lined up that will determine the mettle Wamunyoro is made of.
From ominous warnings that have come from both President Ruto and his deputy Prof Kithure Kindiki, other foot soldiers are already up and about unveiling what they are calling “Operation Tame the Mountain”.
When President Ruto and Mr Gachagua recently squared it out publicly during the pre-burial mass of Ol Kalou MP David Kiaraho in Nyandarua County, a hint of what to expect emerged.
“I know many things… it is just a matter of time, and we will see,” the president cryptically said.
Mr Gachagua had earlier in his speech warned the President and his allies that “removing me from the hearts of this community is like cutting a Mugumo tree with a razor blade… you will only hurt your fingers”.
Mr Gachagua said no effort will bring him down, warning President Ruto of the belief that ‘he would be forgotten in two weeks’, which did not happen, instead making him even more popular.
The President had earlier, while on a tour of the Western region, warned Mr Gachagua that “I will make sure you become nothing in this country”.
Prof Kindiki, at the mass, was fresh from his Irunduni village home, where he had declared he would give Mr Gachagua tackles that would leave him vanquished from the mountain.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki (right) and his predecessor Rigathi Gachagua.
Read: ‘Can’t even lead a cow’: Ruto slams opposition, urges more voters to register in northern Kenya
“We started with the Mbeere North by-election, where he came with his bravado and insults… chest-thumping as if he was of any substance. I defeated him. The upcoming Ol Kalou by-election will be another battlefield, and he should be prepared for yet another defeat. We will silence his hot air and feel his ego,” he said.
Prof Kindiki hinted that his involvement in the plan was to cut down his presidential ambition, waiting for seven, hence the need “to cut down this Wamunyoro who cannot be anything in the coming elections”.
“If President Ruto wins in 2027, I can rise in 2032. But if he loses and another comes in, the waiting period will be not less than 10. Dr Ruto is like a pregnant cow… the pregnancy is me. Let me be born,” he said.
The two leaders have ushered in a flurry of activities from their foot soldiers, and their multi-pronged project, once reconciled, presents tricky variables to be employed against Mr Gachagua.
These include the use of the criminal justice system, painting him as treasonous, coercing church leaders to limit their support for him, hyping impeachment consequences where he may be barred from holding public office for two decades, poaching his followers and alliance principals.
Other tactics include encouraging the Jubilee Party to remain at variance with the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) that Mr Gachagua leads, financing more President Ruto loyalists to bid for Mt Kenya kingship, as well as controlling how he gets political financing.
More include fighting what is seen as Mr Gachagua’s looming handshake with Uhuru Kenyatta, as well as selling Rigathi phobia to scare off his ability to win alliances from outside Mt Kenya.
Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara.
Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara told the Nation that “President Ruto is trying to run the very same script that Uhuru Kenyatta tried on him in vain in the run to the 2022 elections”.
Ms Kihara told Dr Ruto, “your predecessor tried all those tricks while believing rapid development projects would win over the mountain for him. It did not work for Kenyatta, who is a mountaineer, and for you, it will be more painful results… But wasting your time is your choice”.
According to Laikipia East MP Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri, it has reached a point where it is urgent that Mr Gachagua be contained, given that the big vote is in August next year.
“We do not seek to be unfair to anyone. We want all our actions to be above board. We have a man here who appears to have won acres of space to infringe on others’ rights and remain untouchable. We want to tell our security apparatus that Mr Gachagua is not above the law,” he said.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri.
Mr Kiunjuri said Kenyans should be prepared to see brute acts and utterances by Mr Gachagua being called to book, “and we have since started seeing intent to make him know there is a law that applies to all of us”.
Already, Stabex International Ltd chairman Jackson Chebett has sued Mr Gachagua for defamation for allegedly linking him to the raging fuel scam.
In his suit, Mr Chebett says his company is not involved in the government-to-government framework and has no proxy relationship with President Ruto, as Mr Gachagua recently publicly declared.
He says Mr Gachagua’s utterances, which were repeated on several occasions, were actuated by malice, political jealousy and recklessness.
“He failed to verify any facts, ignored public records and deliberately chose inflammatory language to incite public outrage for political gain,” the petition states.
Mr Kiunjuri said that is just the tip of the iceberg, accusing investigative agencies of being lenient on Mr Gachagua, but said going forward it will not be business as usual.
“He has uttered divisive rhetoric, abused nearly everyone and even threatened the Head of State that he should not visit Mt Kenya and, if he sneaks in, be listened to and leave… Mr Gachagua will be taken to task over this rash behaviour. We will launch pressure that he be made to respect others and the law,” Mr Kiunjuri said.
According to Mbeere North MP Mr Leo Wamuthende, investigative agencies will soon release evidence linking Mr Gachagua to treason.
President William Ruto addresses residents of Runyenjes in Embu County on April 4, 2025 during his tour of Mt Kenya region.
“We have 2024 recordings that capture Mr Gachagua planning a coup against President Ruto… We will also plan demonstrations on several issues against him, several touching on bearing false witness against some of his family members… He should be called out for what he is,” Wamuthende said.
According to Mathira MP Mr Eric Wamumbi, state machinery will be invoked to address some of the issues Mr Gachagua is being pressured over.
“I am seeking a State House appointment to help some of Mr Gachagua’s family members get justice around a long-standing property dispute,” he said, echoing recent Dr Ruto’s vow that “there is no hiding place; you must return what belongs to widows and orphans”.
But speaking in Laikipia County on April 9, 2026, Mr Gachagua said he is aware of the scheme.
“You can invade my family seeking to turn it against me, but you will fail. Using some family members whom I have helped for long time to turn against me will amount to nothing,” he said.
He added that “I know about their silly stories about impregnated and murdered women as well as the family will… no one is buying those nonsensical stories”.
According to Trans Nzoia Governor, Mr George Natembeya, the projects lined up against Mr Gachagua are ordinary self-defence mechanisms employed by governments under siege.
Desperate competitor
“I have contacts in government, given my history working in the security sector. The security agencies are under pressure from a desperate competitor to find something actionable to bring Mr Gachagua down, as well as many of us. You heard the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions cry out that it is being given case files against Mr Gachagua but dismissing them for lack of coherent evidence. You have seen my case too,” he said.
On November 25, 2025, the prosecutions boss, Mr Renson Ingonga, told a Senate committee on national cohesion that he had received files that had no adequate evidence against Mr Gachagua.
According to advocate of the High Court, Mr Timothy Kariuki, “…I have seen them… there are several fishing expedition tasks tendered to several lawyers in a bid to get something dirty in the social, political or economic sphere that can have Mr Gachagua charged in court”.
The DCP’s head of strategy, Dr Peter Mbae, told the Nation that “we have all those titbits and they will be dead on arrival”.
He said the DCP is already prepared to keep Mr Gachagua “loved, amiable, bonded to Mr Kenyatta and on top of all community traitors… President Ruto and his people should know we are prepared to fight all the propaganda lined up against Mr Gachagua”.
He said that “the good thing is that the government strategy is faulty because it is targeting Mr Gachagua, trying to make him a national bogeyman… Gachagua is only a creation of the mountain people… Ruto’s problem is not Mr Gachagua; it is the mountain people who drive him”.
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