As former DP Rigathi Gachagua pushes to consolidate Mt Kenya under his new DCP party, rival camps are working to counter his growing influence.
After less than a year of sheer hard work trying to win exclusive bragging rights as Mt Kenya’s kingpin ahead of the 2027 General Election, former Deputy President Mr Rigathi Gachagua has to tighten his hold by not only holding back President William Ruto’s camp but also keeping an eye on aggressive political players out to create a third force.
Since his impeachment in October 2024, Mr Gachagua has been going round the Mt Kenya region dismissing President Ruto as unfit for re-election in 2027—tapping into the “wantam” (one term) narrative.
Further, Mr Gachagua, who has since launched his Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) and is selling it as a Mt Kenya special purpose vehicle, has been trashing the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) as rejected in the region. This is despite the fact that the ruling party sponsored nearly all elected leaders in the region to their current positions.
Mr Gachagua has also been on the warpath with all area leaders, who voted to impeach him, and campaigning for their political irrelevance ahead of 2027 — labelling them as having collaborated with the enemy.
Beyond that, the former Deputy President has declared total war with political parties in Mt Kenya region that are not supporting his cause, branding them as "President Ruto’s multi-coloured wheelbarrows".
Critics say Mr Gachagua has opened too many political warfronts, attracting a fightback from the Ruto camp and other influential players seeking a different direction.
"Of course, Mr Gachagua did not expect to be left to run amok in Mt Kenya region in a game of high stakes. It was expected that at some point, a strategy to check his influence would come to the fore. It is now open it is already in play," says political commentator and scholar Prof Macharia Munene.
Prof Munene said "such high-paying jobs in politics cannot be left exclusively for one man to bid for".
Create another political force
Prof Munene said the plan to create another political force that brings together those not fully in the two existing camps was always going to be inevitable in such an environment.
Some of the influential players that are yet to pledge their loyalty to Mr Gachagua include Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro—who has turned into a harsh critic of President Ruto— and Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni. Former presidential adviser Moses Kuria has also not disguised his opposition to Mr Gachagua but is yet to declare his stand.
There is big push to delink former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i from the Gachagua camp and have him pitch for the presidency under the Jubilee Party whose leader is former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Key in the Dr Matiang'i push is Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, who told Weekly Review that "it is the right thing to do”
“Dr Matiang'i is the ultimate winning formula against Ruto and by all means we are promoting him to get the job done," he said.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
Mr Kioni added: "We should not be seen as fighting Gachagua but we only want to ensure we help Mt Kenya and the whole country get the 2027 maths right in a way that will not usher us into another cry witnessed under President Ruto’s rule".
Asked whether it is a third force being established, Mr Kioni said: "It depends on forces at play. What we know is that our common enemy is President Ruto and we are his competition. That makes us two. If there are those who will feel aggrieved by our choice for Matiang'i, they can go ahead and form their coalitions".
These emerging political dynamics of realignments have prompted Gachagua loyalists to come out fighting, saying such political players threaten Mt Kenya unity.
Former Laikipia Woman Rep Cate Waruguru.
The DCP women league leader Cate Waruguru dismisses the emerging formations as “copycats”.
"We have a technical team studying the emerging political behaviour in Mt Kenya. We have politicians who are attempting to stage persecution so as to try and win sympathy. They believe Mr Gachagua was built by the impeachment," she said.
Ms Waruguru added: "We have noted some politicians loyal to President Ruto try to stage-manage getting hounded out of parliamentary committees just to portray themselves as victims".
She said the Gachagua camp is aware of “government-friendly forces” trying to unite in order to steal the thunder from the former deputy president and contest the 2027 General Election, as 'conspirators'.
"We have credible information that President Ruto’s loyalists seek to present several friendly options as competitors, who even if the incumbent is declared a winner in a disputed manner, will concede defeat and proceed to form yet another broad-based government between 2027 and 2032," she said
The former legislator added that Gachagua loyalists in the region have the task to keep up showing the people the right path to follow “and call out those cheeky plans”.
“We do not expect not to have competitors; they are welcome. But our people must remain thoroughly enlightened of the schemes being rolled out to water down their ‘wantam’ moment," she said.
Embakasi North MP James Gakuya, an ally of Mr Gachagua, says there are forces in Mt Kenya, which started the impeachment politics against the then deputy president in 2024, and are now regrouping.
"The Mt Kenya people are resolute, are focused and must take their 2027 marching orders from one command centre — that is, Mr Gachagua," he said.
Mr Gakuya added: "All those seeking to do political business with Mt Kenya must pass through Mr Gachagua and anything short of that will be deemed as hostile engagement to be politically fought."
Mr Gakuya said politicians who claim to be against President Ruto “must call him by name” when criticising him and mention all the wrongdoings.
According to The Service Party leader Mwangi Kiunjuri, the Ruto camp in Mt Kenya has already activated a number of programmes to deal with the Gachagua wing.
'It is not a secret that we are up to something big against Mr Gachagua and his tribal brigade. We are not a people to just stay dormant as he plots our downfall," he said.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri.
Mr Kiunjuri added: "It is not only a third force— we will, if need be, go all the way to 10 forces if that is what it takes to protect Mt Kenya from getting committed into a five-year political tragedy of following Mr Gachagua".
He said opponents of the former Deputy President have the ability to poach his loyalists, establish alternative wings or even as a single entity take on the Gachagua wave head-on.
Former Deputy President and DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua gestures during an interview with NTV at his Karen home in Nairobi on June 27, 2025.
Mr Kiunjuri said: "We are holding weekly meetings about the issue and so far we have managed to bring to our wing about 10 of Mr Gachagua’s loyalists, several of former president Uhuru Kenyatta close friends as well as some key fence sitters to our fold".
He added that the entire region cannot submit to one man as a self-proclaimed shepherd. He said Mr Gachagua will be sandwiched between several formations. Some of the political forces, he added, will be united at the top for President Ruto's second term.
Kikuyu Council of elders Chairman Wachira Kiago on July 17, 2025 told the Weekly Review that "we are monitoring the situation since we want to midwife a consensus among all ambitions in Mt Kenya".
"We at least know what the people are saying. We are conversant with the passions about 2027 and our duty as a council is to ensure we tolerate all divergent groups at play but retain that one drive that will link up with national popular direction," he said.
Mr Kiago downplayed the emerging realignments saying, "they are a normal scramble. We have never approached any election without several formations contesting among us but our voters have always risen to the occasion of voting as per their wishes".
Mr Kiago said that 2027 is not a matter of life and death for Mt Kenya and there is nothing that will be out of the ordinary.
“It will find us, we will vote and 2032 will also find this region ready to vote again. It is just another voting year in many to come," he said.
