Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (left) and President William Ruto. Inset: Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
The political hide-and-seek between Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro played out in the open as they both accompanied President William Ruto on his tour of Murang'a County on Friday, August 9.
Mr Nyoro's loyalists, led by Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu, have since said that the President must dump Mr Gachagua and pick Mr Nyoro for 2027 re-election.
The president appeared to fuel tensions between the two supporters when he broke protocol at one stop and invited Mr Nyoro to speak after Mr Gachagua.
At Kambirwa market, where the President launched a Sh50 million economic stimulus programme market, the President invited Mr Gachagua to speak first and then invited Mr Nyoro.
Mr Gachagua reiterated one of his controversial messages of mobilising Mt Kenya to unite.
"I will never tire of reminding you that you have no choice but to unite as a region. Never fight your brother. Never embrace your brother with a knife in his back. Never be jealous of your sister when she gets married by a rich suitor... he could be the one to help you," Mr Gachagua said.
At each stop, he asked the audience if they had seen his interview with local media stations last Sunday, 4 August, in which he accused men close to the president of persecuting him.
He also spoke of "young ambitious politicians in the Mt Kenya region plotting for 2027 and 2032".
Mr Gachagua complained in the interview that he had taken his persecutions to the presidential throne but had not yet received a reprieve.
The President seemed to be interested in how the two were competing on the mountain and how they were being received.
Both Mr Gachagua and Mr Nyoro have accompanied him on his three-day visit to the Mt Kenya region, where he toured Embu County on Wednesday, August 7, Murang'a on Friday, August 9 and Kirinyaga today, August 10.
The two have clearly emerged as the two centres of power in Mount Kenya, with crowds trying to outdo each other in acclamation whenever either was handed the microphone.
Mr Nyoro's supporters pulled a fast one at Kahuro market when they presented the president with a prized he-goat "to make soup".
In Kambirwa, Mr Nyoro took a cryptic swipe at unnamed senior leaders who constantly undermine and fight others.
"I have made a personal vow that even if he pokes my eye, I will remain peaceful and apologise for putting my eye his way. If he hits my face, I will remain cool and apologise for putting my face his way...but in all these, it should never be construed that I am a coward," he said.
In an apparent reference to Gachagua's numerous media interviews and public statements, Nyoro took a swipe at some national leaders who he said were fond of making political noise.
"At the end of the day what will count is not what you made noise about but the transformative agenda that you executed. It will be about development projects implemented, quality of life improved, reprieves you have won for the people...and that is what the president desires of us," he said.
It was also not lost on keen observers that most of the Murang'a leaders present avoided praising Gachagua, underlining the extent of the bad blood that exists among them.
It was only a week ago that Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo accused Mr Gachagua of talking too much instead of concentrating on the task given to him by the president of helping coffee, tea and dairy farmers and fighting alcoholism.
"That is the work he has been given. He has yet to accomplish it. You ask me, he has work to do but it is yet to be done...he should not mind about 2027 or 2032," he said.
During the president's Murang'a tour, woman rep Betty Maina appeared most spirited to heighten the tensions between Mr Gachagua and Mr Nyoro.
"Thank you Mr President for giving us Mr Nyoro. We love him so much and he is doing well uniting us. Here in Murang'a, we are in word and deed behind you without doublespeak," she repeatedly said in the more than eight stops the president made.
She added, "We are not like those who in public rallies support you but in darkness are doing other things...you are in our souls and mouths...we will stick by you till 2032".
At no point did Ms Maina bother to note that Mr Gachagua was present, making it clear that in her mind the President and Mr Nyoro were the distinguished guests.
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More shock awaited Mr Gachagua when his strongest ally in Murang'a, Maragua MP Mary wa Maua, was sneaked in as the only visiting MP to speak in Kiharu constituency.
She praised Mr Nyoro as a good chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee in the National Assembly "who helped me get some budget allocations for my people".
Ignoring Mr Gachagua, the Maragua MP said: "Mr Nyoro has proved to be a focused leader who even funds his secondary school pupils to eat chapati as their school meal."
The only senior elected leader in Murang'a who has worked closely with the Deputy President is Deputy Governor Stephen Munania, who a week ago declared maximum support for the embattled deputy.
Speaking in Gatanga Constituency, Mr Munania declared that "Murang'a County is firmly behind you (Gachagua) as our team leader, especially the youths who follow me".
He added: "Let it be known to all and sundry that you (Gachagua) are our wall and our strength. The foxes won't be able to bring you down. As our cornerstone, whoever tries to touch you in Murang'a will meet me and my youths one on one".
