Gachagua hopes to take mantle of Mt Kenya kingpin as Uhuru exits
Deputy President-elect Rigathi Gachagua during a past interview.
If he was looking forward to wielding power and influence as the Mt Kenya kingpin after retiring, President Kenyatta’s hopes were completely dashed with the outcome of the 2022 presidential election when his preferred candidate, Mr Raila Odinga, was defeated by Deputy President William Ruto.
The result was also a stunning rejection of the outgoing president in his own Mt Kenya backyard where the presidential vote decisively went to Dr Ruto, whose United Democratic Alliance (UDA) swept virtually all the seats.
What remained of President Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party got a negligible number of seats in Mt Kenya. Had Mr Odinga won the presidency, his running mate, Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua, would have been in prime position to inherit the Mt Kenya mantle with Mr Kenyatta’s backing. Now, all indications are that Deputy President-lect Rigathi Gachagua will fill the vacuum with an eye on his own presidential bid in future.
But he will also have to contend with the fact that he is not universally popular, given that his selection as Dr Ruto’s running mate was not well received within the Mr Kenya brigade of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Strong position
Being DP, however, places him in a strong position to fill the Mt Kenya leadership vacuum, though he might have to manoeuvre carefully because moving too forcefully in building his own power base might attract nervous glances from Dr Ruto.
Prior to the August 9 General Election, President Kenyatta spoke to media stations drawn from Central region, emphasising that he was “still young”.
“I am not going anywhere. I am just leaving this job for another task. If I am called upon to help this nation, I will be very much willing to serve in a different capacity,” he said.
By that time it was already clear that President Kenyatta’s support for veteran opposition leader Odinga under the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party banner was a tough sell in the Mt Kenya region.
After the polls, Kirinyaga Jubilee chairman Mureithi Kang’ara blamed the poor performance of Azimio in Mt Kenya region to a strong onslaught by UDA.
“The UDA euphoria became unstoppable and we lost many seats,” Mr Kang’ara told journalists in Sagana. UDA bagged all the four parliamentary seats in Kirinyaga through Mr Gichimu Githinji (Gichugu), Mr George Kariuki (Ndia), Mr Gachoki Gitari (Kirinyaga Central) and Ms Mary Maingi (Mwea) .
The party further won 17 out of 20 MCA seats in the county. Two were won by The Service Party (TSP) while one went to the Jubilee party. Ms Karua’s Narc-Kenya did not win any elective seat in the county.
Backyard
The same was replicated in Nyeri County, Mr Rigathi’s backyard, where the party won all the National Assembly seats in Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri, Tetu, Kieni, Mathira and Nyeri Town constituencies.
Governor Mutahi Kahiga, who hails from Kieni, was re-elected for another term on a UDA ticket while Ms Rahab Mukami from Othaya retained her Woman Rep seat.
Mr Wahome Wamatinga, a new entrant from Mathira, clinched the Senator seat via UDA. The party grabbed 25 seats in Nyeri County, Amani National Congress (ANC) got one seat while four candidates were elected as independents. None of the 30 MCAs are affiliated to Azimio.
Mr Wahome Gikonyo, a Nyeri-based lawyer, told the Nation that Mr Gachagua had assumed the role of Mt Kenya kingpin after successfully mobilising residents to vote for Dr Ruto.
“For you to assume the role and position of the spokesperson of Mt Kenya, you have to identify with residents’ aspirations and needs so as to earn their trust. The person who appears to have met those qualifications is [Mr] Gachagua and that is why he was able to deliver votes for Kenya Kwanza,” Mr Gikonyo said.
“You cannot force the people of Mt Kenya to do what they do not want. They rebelled against being forced to elect Mr Uhuru in 2002 and Mr Odinga in 2022,” the lawyer said.
“Ms Karua might have been pushed to support Azimio but that did not work. She lost even in her own polling station. She did not help Mr Odinga ‘to climb the mountain’,” said Mr Gikonyo.
He appealed to President Kenyatta to join hands with Dr Ruto and agree to peacefully retire after serving two terms in office.
“Mr Uhuru has to rebrand himself if he wants to remain relevant. The only way is by joining the people instead of working against them,” he said.
“He had his entrance in 2013 and he has now faced his exit in 2022. There are new players and that is a fact that cannot be changed,” he added.
