President William Ruto (left) and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
After a short-lived ceasefire, President William Ruto’s allies in Mt Kenya have taken on Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, in a scathing response to his December threat that his critics will lose favour with the electorate.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa, MPs Mwangi Kiunjuri (Laikipia East), Eric Wamumbi (Mathira) and Duncan Mathenge (Nyeri Town) have accused the DP of trying to blackmail them.
The DP’s latest caution to regional leaders who are not “listening to the ground” – a disguised reference to his critics – to change course or face a backlash during the 2027 poll has ignited the fresh storm.
“I am a man who goes around villages listening to the ground. I can assure you that voters have already made some serious decisions about 2027 and I’m afraid beyond that deadline, you will be thrown under the bus,” the DP said recently while touring Kiambu County.
In an interview with the Nation on Monday, Mr Ichung’wa accused the DP of using threats against critics “to try to instill fear for them to join his bandwagon in the pretext of fighting for the people of Mt Kenya region.”
“His fights with all those he perceives to be close to the president from bloggers to other leaders informed by their resistance to allow him to use the people as a bargaining chip to blackmail the President.
“I can authoritatively tell you, the blackmail card is his middle name and modus operandi. He attempted to blackmail the President on the confidential vote for his office but the President didn’t succumb. He tried it with Parliament and we resisted,” Mr Ichung’wa charged.
On his part, Mr Kiunjuri said the people of Mt Kenya will judge the leaders based on their performance and not how loyal they are to the DP.
“He is simply playing opposition politics by fighting Ruto government and has only one agenda ofbeing Mt Kenya kingpin.We are already in government and he is the DP, so unless he wants to run for president in 2027, he should tell us and we will be glad to rally behind but if he is not running and still wants to be somebody’s running mate, he should be patient and stick with William Ruto,” said Mr Kiunjuri.
Mr Wamumbi insisted that they would not succumb to the DP’s threats.
“Gachagua is not God. He does not determine other leaders' destinies.
"We had Uhuru, who threatened leaders left, right and centre but went down with a thud. He should mentor young leaders, not threaten them,” said Mr Wamumbi.
Mr Mathenge termed the DP’s sentiments as “pure blackmail trying to threaten us with the 2027 card. “He has one vote. Which line is this he wants MPs and other elected leaders to toe? We want a clear-cut conversation about the benefits in this government that he is serving as number two.”
“We need a development blueprint for the region detailing what he has delivered or achieved over the past two years he has been in office and what he has in store for the remaining three years,” Mr Mathenge said.
Mr Dennis Itumbi, a former social media strategist for President Ruto who was appointed as the Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects last week, has equally been on the receiving end over his close association with some young leaders from Mt Kenya region including Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
“I can confirm I have had many meetings with the DP to plan many things. The content of some of those meetings from when he became DP are in the realm of classified interactions, and others belong to books we may publish someday or even movies. For now, that is all I can say,” Mr Itumbi told the Nation on Monday.
'No ultimatums'
The DP’s spokesperson Njeri Rugene, however, denied claims that he had issued any ultimatum to Mt Kenya leaders.
“The Deputy President has not given anyone any ultimatum. He has only advised leaders to listen to the ground,” Ms Rugene told the Nation.
Nyeri Governor Kahiga Mutahi, a fierce defender of the DP, argues that a crop of young leaders from Mt Kenya region including President Ruto’s social media strategists, some of his close aides as well as the Council of Governors women caucus dubbed the G7 led by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru are some of the main groupings fighting the deputy president.
“There are young MPs from the Mountain in the fold. The other front is the G7 who are being fronted by the COG Chair under the guise of increasing the number of Female Governors in the next election while the truth is that she is strategically placing herself as a possible replacement of the current DP,” Mr Kahiga says.
When reached for comment, Ms Waiguru only responded by saying; “he needs Jesus.”
Fierce criticism'
The DP has continued with fierce criticism of some Kenya Kwanza leaders, not shying away from attacking some of the president’s close aides.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
"There are some people who are friends with the president who want to be my boss. Ati wewe kwa sababu ni rafiki ya Rais ukue boss wangu (Just because you are the President's friend you want to become my boss)? ," the DP posed in June.
"Even some of the people wanamsaidia kazi, PAs wake, wanataka kuniamrisha vile nitafanya kazi. Inawezekana? (His (Ruto) PAs want to order me on how to work. Is that Possible?) Even his bloggers want to tell me what to do."
Political analyst Martin Oloo argues that from the DP’s sentiments, “it is clear that he is on a war path.”
“He has come under political artillery. He either shields himself, fights back or retreats. He is not one to retreat or sit back. He has opted to take them on (Mt Kenya leaders). His strength is the fact that he seems to have the grassroots with him. With that, he must browbeat his opponents into submission or oblivion,” Mr Oloo says.
Even though Mr Gachagua has embraced the broad-based government that has incorporated leaders from Raila Odinga’s ODM party into the cabinet, the assertions by President Ruto over a possible coalition with ODM seems to have rubbed him the wrong way.
Mr Ichung’wah, however, told the Nation that leaders from Mt Kenya region will not be distracted by what he termed as the DP’s rants.
“We had similar threats in the last term of parliament with someone saying they will determine who will be reelected, but the people of Kenya proved him wrong in the long run.”
“He ought to understand that leaders are elected by the people not by other leaders and must without exception respect all elected leaders from MCAs MPs to governors. The zeal and desperation he has exhibited in trying to curve out a sphere of influence in just one region as opposed to the country he serves as deputy president is indeed a sad episode of this nascent political career,” the Kikuyu MP said.
“In the last election, we have people who were not elected on ODM ticket even in the Nyanza region where the party dominates. The same case was in Mt Kenya where we had Jubilee, TSP and UDA among others. So this is a possibility and the people will judge us on how we performed for them,” Kiunjuri said.
