Deputy President William Ruto has done fairly well in entrenching himself in Mt Kenya.
His strategists must be aware there is a scheme to lock him out of the region.
Politicians close to President Uhuru Kenyatta have come out openly attacking Ruto in a manner that suggests they are determined to uproot him from the region.
A faction of politicians working closely with some state operatives has been humiliating the Deputy President both in private and in public.
In all these instances, the DP has played it cool and kept his eyes on the ultimate prize.
Whether the leaders seeking to 'deal with him' in Mt Kenya will succeed is another issue.
It is now two-and-half years to the 2022 General Election and a lot could happen.
The ground may shift in favour of Ruto or against him. It is all about how the DP plays his cards during the remaining time.
He may entrench himself deeper or get uprooted. It is all about how he executes his plans as the campaigns take shape.
The DP's enemies, it is true, do not want him anywhere near the President and are doing everything they can to ensure Ruto's inroads in Mt Kenya do not bear fruit.
They could be doing all manner of scheming to prepare the ground to turn hostile against Ruto.
However, they must realise that there is equally a number of politicians from the region who have developed a cordial working relationship with the DP and they may want to work even harder to endear him to region.
Ruto has already done very well to cover a lot of ground in Mt Kenya. He has many foot soldiers, even right inside the President's own constituency.
As the clock ticks towards 2022, a lot will change. It will also depend on how the President's men play their game to see if they can vanquish the DP.
They may have the capacity to annihilate Ruto in Mt Kenya but whether they will succeed is a different matter altogether.
The United States International University professor spoke to the Star