Kenneth Matiba and Rigathi Gachagua.
“Even a dog would have won on a Ford Asili ticket in Central Province,” these were the famous words by former Kanu Secretary General Joseph (JJ) Kamotho after he was swept aside from his Kangema parliamentary seat by Ford Asili wave sweeping across the then Central Province in the first multiparty General Election in 1992.
Despite his impressive development record, voters would humiliate Kamotho, a Cabinet minister, with paltry 7,436 votes against 38,620 votes for his arch-rival Ford Asili’s John Michuki, simply because Kanu was the most unpopular party in the region.
At the time, the region’s political kingpin was former political detainee Kenneth Matiba, who was also the Ford Asili presidential candidate after the outfit had split from the then behemoth Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford). The other faction was Ford Kenya whose presidential candidate was Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Ford Asili was most popular mainly in Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Embu, as well as Nyandarua districts. Former Vice President Mwai Kibaki was Democratic Party (DP) flag-bearer, and would enjoy unwavering support from his Nyeri backyard and Meru region.
Kenneth Matiba (left) and Mwai Kibaki addressing the press in Nairobi in 1992.
Matiba would traverse the province urging voters to employ supposed three-piece suit format and elect only Ford Asili candidates for the president, member of parliament and councillor (now Member of Council Assembly). Though Matiba did not make it as president, voters would not disappoint as they would elect all manner of politicians associated with their liberation hero.
A classic case was in South Kinangop where Kimani Wanyoike, a heavyweight and renowned second-liberation fighter, would not recapture his seat, simply because he was in little-known Kenya National Congress (KNC). Voters would humiliate him with 3,669 votes against 29,144 votes for obscure self-styled “prophetess” Mary Wanjiru, merely because she was in Ford Asili. In Parliament, the overly religious MP would claim to be “God’s prophet”, and would be better known for advancing only her so-called prophetic ministry.
However, in Kikuyu (now Kikuyu and Kabete constituencies), voters would not pledge blind loyalty to Matiba. At one point during his rally at Kikuyu town, Matiba asked his supporters to vote for Ford Asili candidate businessman Martin Kinyanjui. But the crowd defiantly told him their choice was Ford Kenya’s Paul Muite, who had made his name during the fight for democracy. Muite, who was Jaramogi’s first vice chairman, would be the only Ford Kenya MP in Central Province.
Gachagua, having earned political bragging rights following the landslide victory of Sammy Kamau Ngotho, the DCP candidate in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election on July 16, appears to be taking the Matiba route. If Matiba staged a spirited campaign to lock Kibaki and Odinga out of Central Province, Gachagua appears keen on ensuring rival parties, mainly Jubilee, would not reap big in Mt Kenya region and Nyandarua.
He has since declared DCP the “party of choice” in Mt Kenya region, and drawn a long political hit-list of “anti-community” MPs he wants kicked out, regardless of their excellent development records, for having voted for the controversial Finance Bill of 2024/2025, and his impeachment in October 2024. In Meru on Sunday, Gachagua urged members of Party of National Unity (PNU) to join DCP “where the people are”, disregarding the fact that PNU, whose leader is former Meru governor Peter Munya, supports Jubilee and its presidential aspirant Fred Matiang’i.
Before Murang’a governor Irungu Kang’ata, ditched UDA for DCP a week ago, Gachagua had threatened to have him replaced if he did not join the outfit. And on Wednesday, Gachagua asked Kiambu governor Kimani Wamatangi to be "bold enough" and join DCP. Wamatangi, who has since ditched UDA, had on Sunday, asked to be given six weeks to declare his next party after completing county road project programme, dubbed Boresha Barabara (improve roads), saying: “Mere talk about party is meaningless if your performance on the ground is poor.”
Politicians of unquestionable characters, including those involved in land and diaspora employment scams, are already competing for Gachagua’s ear to get his endorsement.
Major questions now remain: Does Gachagua care about the quality of leaders to be elected to parliament or is he only interested in numbers so he could control the next crop of Mt Kenya MPs and boost his bargaining power in post-election coalition? Will he “listen to the ground” and let voters go for the best? Will voters pledge blind loyalty to him resulting in another Kamotho lamenting, after next year’s elections that even a dog would have won on a DCP ticket in Mt Kenya region?
Mburu, a former Nation writer, is a research and communications consultant. [email protected]
