President William Ruto.
President William Ruto, who swept the mountain region off its feet to have it vote overwhelmingly for him in the 2022 General Election, now faces an uncertain future ahead of his 2027 second term bid.
This follows growing discontentment against his administration that is increasingly becoming harder to conceal, if raging public discourse and utterances from political leaders in Central Kenya are anything to go by.
"Let us not pretend that all is well in the mountain. We recently feared that President Ruto was working too hard to become the mountain's bogeyman...it looks like that reality has finally arrived," said Murang'a Senator Mr Joe Nyutu.
In past multi-party elections, the region has largely voted to lock out aspirants it hates or fears, and it may appear that President Ruto may be working himself into that list.
The growing hostility, brewed mostly by unmet campaign promises to 'hustlers' and economic disenfranchisement, appears to have been fermented further by the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
"What is being seen as the last straw is Gachagua's impeachment. We know President Ruto was a nagging disorder in President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration where he was Deputy President, but it never reached such a low moment of contempt," he reckons.
Time to 'make money from singing about hard feelings'
Former MP Maina Kamanda, ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga, Gospel artiste Ben Githae and Nairobi Governor Anne Kananu on stage during the Azimio La Umoja campaign at the Thika Greens Stadium on January 15, 2022.
But even as discontentment bubbles, some, like political-cum-gospel crooner Ben Githae, say "the time is now to make money out of singing about the hard feelings against this government".
"The Ruto I sang in support of in 2013 and 2017 is no longer sellable as music content," he told Nation.Africa.
"Currently, I am riding high on my new track called Wasaliti (traitors), where I vividly capture the mood of the mountain that currently sees the Kenya Kwanza alliance as a conglomerate of deal cutters, whose only agenda is to sink Wanjiku into more desperation".
On Kenya kwanza's part, UDA Secretary-General Omar Hassan told Nation.Africa that the president's party will not accept "sanctions" based on regionalism and ethnicity.
"We as a party will not leave Mt Kenya behind in our quest to unite the whole country ahead of 2027. We will not allow ourselves to be dragged into politics of gatekeeping, isolation and locking certain regions as no-go zones," he said.
'Unite all Kenyans'
President William Ruto attends mass at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County, on October 27, 2024.
He appeared to mirror President Ruto's sentiments who, while in Uasin Gishu County on Sunday, made a veiled reference to Mr Gachagua's woes. He decried the emergence of tribalists whose agenda is to balkanise Kenyans along regional and mother tongue lines.
"I will not relent in uniting all Kenyans to make all regions feel part and parcel of the government so that we can develop together without discrimination...where we all live in unity and going about our business as a God-fearing country," he said.
Gachagua: 'Pray for Ruto'
Meanwhile, the same day, impeached DP Gachagua played up the growing grassroot tensions against government and called for prayers to give President Ruto wisdom to turn things around.
While speaking in Kiambu County over the weekend, Mr Gachagua reminded Kenyans that they are reeling under negative effects of over-taxation, joblessness, underperforming businesses and a collapsed health sector".
He deftly pinned the problems on President Ruto's face by calling upon Kenyans to "pray for the president to get a way out of this fix the country is in".
Also in Kiambu County the same Sunday, the breakaway wing of Azimio la Umoja one Kenya Coalition led by Kalonzo Musyoka said "we are here to celebrate the fall of President Ruto from the mountain and mourn the tribulations your son Gachagua is being subjected to with you".
The Wiper Party leader said they appreciate that Mt Kenya people have not fallen for the gimmick of "dividing you in the deceptive name of uniting you".
He claimed that the passions in Mt Kenya are shared by other regions.
"You are not alone in holding this government squarely responsible for chaotic healthcare insurance, joblessness, shambled higher education funding model, over-taxation, abductions, extrajudicial killings....Your anger against this government is justified," Mr Musyoka said.
'Inconsequential' rage?
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta's cousin and Kiama Kia Ma national patron Kung'u Muigai.
But Kiama Kia Ma national patron Mr Kung'u Muigai dismissed the perceived rage against the president in Mt Kenya region to be inconsequential.
while accusing Mr Gachagua of engaging in a futile exercise, Mr Muigai urged Mt Kenya voters to realise that they are on a self-defeating trajectory, and reckons there's no such thing as the Mt Kenya political bloc.
He submitted that Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu counties are "celebrating" President Ruto's rule.
"It is only the Agikuyu (Nyeri, Murang'a, Kirinyaga and Kiambu) who are setting themselves against the rest of the country. We shall be slaughtered like pigs. Media people start telling our people the truth. You owe it to them," he said.
On cases of reported corruption schemes, Mr Muigai said "all the money in this country belongs to politicians, they spend it however they want... All senior politicos are thieving cousins led by their stomachs, never attempt to predict their actions".
Regarding the perceived uprising against President Ruto's rule, Mr Muigai said "politicians and the clergy are only different sides of the same coin...have no time for any side".
On his part, Party of National Unity leader Peter Munya told Nation.Africa that the president appears to have subdued independence of National Assembly and the Senate, to a point they have both become rubber stamps for bad laws and policies.
"The president has turned them into endorsement robots...as long the president wants it, they give it to him," he said.
"2027 appears set to be the moment voters will express their fury against the president and his yes-yes sycophants".
President Ruto's allies in Mt Kenya have continued to keep off public appearances, owing to the perceived rage that has seen some booed and chased away from meetings.
