Deputy President Kithure Kindiki (left) former DP Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto.
As political realignments intensify with eyes on the 2027 elections, Mt Kenya is turning into a battleground fuelled by political revenge, with key players seemingly engaged in multiple supremacy battles.
At the centre of this brewing storm are President William Ruto, his deputy Prof Kithure Kindiki, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, and former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga.
The main catalysts driving the political tensions include power struggles within the Kenya Kwanza administration, unfulfilled pre-election pledges, taxation policies, the impeachment of Mr Gachagua, and the re-emergence of the Mungiki narrative.
Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu summarises the problem as that Mt Kenya voters feel betrayed.
“We gave President Ruto 47 per cent of his authority. He took our power and gave it to those who opposed us in the 2022 General Election,” he said.
Mr Joe Nyutu.
Mr Nyutu cites unfulfilled promises, punitive taxes, and Gachagua’s impeachment as reasons for rising resentment.
"Mt Kenya has every right to feel invited to revenge in 2027 against the government by seeking to vote it out,” said Mr Nyutu.
It is in that kind of thinking that shapes out a Ruto versus Gachagua battle in the Mountain. Mr Gachagua, from his public comments since last October when he was ousted, appears driven by fury against a man he says he campaigned for to deliver Mt Kenya in 2022 but paid him back with impeachment. The former Deputy President has declared his intention is to make Dr Ruto a one-term president.
"I promise you Mr Ruto that you will not succeed in Mt Kenya. You won't succeed dividing us for you to win. You won't succeed in influencing us to come back to you. Your fate is sealed here in Mt Kenya," Mr Gachagua said two weeks ago while worshiping in Laikipia County.
Ruto vs Gachagua
Dr Ruto has, on his part, dismissed his former Number Two as a divisive figure with nothing new to offer. The President’s allies in Mt Kenya, led by Mathira MP Eric wa Mumbi, have also told of Mr Gachagua as being a “spent force who could not sustain himself even as a deputy president.”
As the two friends-turned-foes attempt to strangle each other, another wing of the vendetta against both Ruto and Gachagua appears to be emerging in the form of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Even after Mr Kenyatta met with President Ruto at his Ichaweri home and public statements that followed depicting a likelihood of two reuniting for 2027, things appear to have gone haywire.
Mr Kenyatta’s most remarkable recent criticism was to urge the youth to stand up for their rights, but he has not directly spoken against the President. However, Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni says the former Head of State cannot fight in the same terraces with Dr Ruto.
"Ruto was a man who was deputy to Kenyatta from 2013 to 2022. Uhuru Kenyatta had attempted to make Kenyans aware that the country wouldn't be safe in the hands of Ruto. Kenyans have come to know it was indeed so. What has changed to make Kenyatta support Ruto?" he said.
Uhuru 'vengeful'
According to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology don Charles Mwangi, the biggest problem is that "Mr Kenyatta appears vengeful against Ruto and Gachagua".
"While Ruto is doing all possible to win Mt Kenya back, and Gachagua trying hard to consolidate it so as to be the one to determine its 2027 cause, Mr Kenyatta appears to be rolling out his own plans," Mr Mwangi said.
The don went on: "It genuinely appears that Uhuru Kenyatta has not forgiven Ruto and Gachagua for humiliating him in 2022 by reserving only 12 per cent of Mt Kenya for his candidate Mr Raila Odinga (of Azimio) and wrenching off the tag of Mt Kenya kingpin."
Mr Mwangi cites the ugly events that followed the Kenya Kwanza Alliance win where goats and sheep belonging to the Kenyattas were stolen at their Northlands farm during the 2023 opposition protests, as well as targeting of the family.
In 2023, police attempted to raid the home of Mr Kenyatta’s son, Jomo, over what they claimed was a gun licence dispute. There were also reports that former First Lady Mama Ngina had part of her security personnel withdrawn.
“That is probably why as Ruto uses the likes of his Deputy Kithure Kindiki and Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wa to win back Mt Kenya, Gachagua is trying hard to block the move, Mr Kenyatta is coming out as the force behind another formation,” said Mr Mwangi.
Another revenge front is appearing to pit Mt Kenya East against Mt Kenya West in the broader Gikuyu, Embu and Meru Association.
The Embu, Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties (Mt Kenya East) are being targeted by Dr Ruto’s allies, led by Prof Kindiki, for a possible split from Central Kenya (Mt Kenya West) that for now appears to be behind Mr Gachagua.
"We in Mt Kenya East won't allow ourselves to be incited against President Ruto government by those from developed counties here in Mt Kenya. They tell us to heckle the president so that we can continue missing out on roads, water...developments that are in their regions," said Governor Cecily Mbarire said recently.
Prof Kindiki, in his recent meeting with leaders from the region, questioned how Embu County became the playing ground where President Ruto was heckled, and said it did not present a good picture as Ms Mbarire was the national chairperson of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
"Why should we not be thankful that President Ruto has for the first time in history remembered Mt Kenya East with the Deputy Presidency?" asked Prof Kindiki in one of the meetings.
Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi summarised it that "we will run away with our son Kindiki from those who have always enjoyed the cream of our milk and with President Ruto defeat those satanic forces from the other side".
Gachagua vs Kindiki
Therein lies the revenge card between Mr Gachagua and Prof Kindiki--the latter being the man who was shopped to fill the void after the impeachment fiasco.
The revenge politics has escalated to pit President Ruto allies in Mt Kenya against Mr Gachagua.
"Mr Gachagua has managed to work out Mt Kenya region into an anger whose end is not certain yet. In the process, Mr Gachagua has launched a campaign against those he accuses of helping President Ruto to betray Mt Kenya. He classifies them as traitors," says former Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi of the Jubilee Party.
Mr Ngugi, who aligns himself with the Kenyatta wing, says "many who are not in the loyalty register of Mr Gachagua feel threatened and are seeking all ways to escape the 2027 ballot massacre".
He added that there seems to be a campaign to revenge against elected leaders from Mt Kenya who voted to impeach Mr Gachagua in October 2024.
Former Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria, who supports President Ruto’s re-election, has previously said he would help the Head of State visit Mt Kenya and deal with those promising revenge in 2027.
Former Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria.
Political analyst Prof Macharia Munene says the current scenario works with the known “politics of the bogeyman principle” in Mt Kenya where he argues the region mobilises against, rather than for, a candidate.
"We have seen people heckle and refuse to listen to their (president Ruto and Prof Kindiki) condolence messages in burial ceremonies. Some of the heckling has been done in churches. It spells a situation of revenge for issues that area people feel strongly against,” says Prof Munene, adding that this will shape the 2027 vote.
This, he says, has also seen the people turn against leaders who voted against their interests, like in the Finance Bill 2024 and the impeachment of Mr Gachagua.
"Unless they work hard to salvage their fortunes, 2027 does not sound too good so far for them (the Ruto camp)," Prof Munene said.
Another front has been brought to the fore by the likes of Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama who has publicly suggested a 2027 scheme of the rest of the country ganging up against Mt Kenya "if they continue with this trend (of defying president Ruto government)”.
The comments were made in the presence of President Ruto who was on a five-day tour of the Western region.
Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge has since warned Mr Wanyama "to desist from caveman mentality where you think your thought has any civility".
"Such kind of shameful utterances only harden people's hearts and in 2027 they will punish us as they seek to revenge against such reckless statements," Mr Mathenge said.
Former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga has also joined the fray and is working against the former Deputy President
"Gachagua keeps on lamenting that Murima (the Mountain) was touched (the region was wronged)...He is the one who was impeached, not all of us. While in office, he had made it his duty to persecute me and my supporters, hauling me to court now and then. He is now the one in court," Mr Njenga said recently while in Nyeri County.
The former Mungiki leader has made it obvious that in his ground incursions, his main agenda is to clip Mr Gachagua’s wings.
"We are firmly in a situation whereby Mr Njenga is executing revenge activities against Mr Gachagua...He appears to have been empowered with impunity to target Gachagua followers with terror-like politics and soon, the repercussions will be there to be witnessed," said Nyeri governor Mr Mutahi Kahiga.
Mr Kahiga said the former Mungiki leader’s actions, that he believes have the tacit support of the State, are likely to make things even worse for the President and his allies.
