Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has embarked on an aggressive campaign to dislodge retired President Uhuru Kenyatta as the undisputed Mt Kenya political kingpin.
In recent weeks, the DP has been on a back-to-back offensive in the vote-rich region, meeting and wooing strong Uhuru troops in apparent efforts to fill the political leadership void created by the retired President’s departure.
“It is obvious [he wants to be the kingpin]. That aggression can only mean one thing. He is a man out to leave nothing to chance,” university don and political commentator Herman Manyora said.
Former Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu said Gachagua has put himself on the path to becoming the region’s kingpin with his ‘early signs’ to protect the community’s interest.
“Gachagua is right now the most senior leader from Mt Kenya in government. That puts him ahead of the pack,” Wambugu, who remained loyal to Uhuru in the 2022 campaigns and elections, said.
In the 2013 and 2017 general elections, Uhuru was the undoubted political master of the vote-rich region.
He was the unopposed political spokesman whose word was law to residents. Uhuru enjoyed a massive following, with residents voting for him almost to a man in the two elections.
But Uhuru lost grip on his backyard to President William Ruto, an ‘outsider’ said to have capitalised on the lack of an apparent Uhuru heir, to become the darling of residents.
Ruto got more than 85 per cent of the votes from the region in the August 9 general election and beat Azimio candidate Raila Odinga who enjoyed the backing of Uhuru.
At the weekend, Gachagua camped in his backyard and vowed to woo all Azimio politicians and influential businesspeople allied to Uhuru and Azimio by the end of the year.
“During the just-concluded election, Azimio had 13 per cent of votes in this region and we will reach out to professionals, businesspeople and politicians who had gone astray,” the DP said.
“I have talked to many of them and they have told me they were intimidated and coerced into joining Azimio and are ready to return to the fold.”
The remarks revealed his behind-the-scenes efforts to take over from Uhuru as the region’s political supremo.
Gachagua is an eloquent and politically persuasive politician who is believed to have learnt political art from his former boss, Uhuru. He served as Uhuru's personal aide for many years.
Speaking during a service at Karatina Catholic Church in Mathira constituency, Nyeri, on Sunday, the DP took a swipe at Uhuru for failing to mentor young leaders to succeed him.
“The previous leader did not mentor our leaders and some of us who tried to raise our heads were met with harassment and intimidation,” he said.
“One of my roles now is to mentor young leaders. That is why you will be seeing me moving around accompanied by young politicians.”
On Friday, he publicly wooed Azimio leaders to join the government, even as he revealed he had prevailed on Kenya Kwanza MPs from Mt Kenya to vote for former Kieni MP Kanini Kega for EALA legislator position.
Kega was one of the fiercest Ruto and Gachagua critics and a strong team player in Azimio and Raila’s chief campaigner in Mt Kenya.
Gachagua’s admission that he influenced Kega's election points to a man ready to bring the region and its leaders under one roof.
“I spoke to the leaders from the mountain. I told them this Kanini Kega was insulting me and President William Ruto (but) they should vote for him. Did they or did they not vote for him? That’s is the new Kenya we want,” he said.
“Kanini tumemleta jana walikuwa wamepotea, tutaleta kidogo kidogo tunajaribu kurudisha kuwapangapanga mpaka waingie laini (We returned Kanini yesterday, we want to do it progressively until they fall in place).
“Hata huyu Sabina Chege, mtu ya Jubilee, tutaweka fertiliser akuje sawa sawa (even Sabina Chege, a member of Jubilee, we will talk to her so that she can join us)," he said, durimg the funeral service of the daughter of Chuka/Igambang’ombe MP Patrick Munene in Chuka, Tharaka Nithi county.
To demonstrate Gachagua's already growing influence in Mt Kenya, the DP and his troops rallied to defeat some of the candidates who had been favoured by President Ruto in favour of their ‘own’ from the mountain.
In the Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by Ruto at State House last Wednesday, the coalition settled on, among others, former URP secretary general Fred Muteti.
However, Muteti was defeated on the floor of the House as the legislators voted for Mwangi Maina, a youthful politician from Mt Kenya, instead of Muteti.
If Gachagua succeeds in his efforts to consolidate the region behind him, he will become too politically influential to be ignored by any political player.
The President may have to stick with him as his running mate in the 2027 polls as he courts the region to put him in the race.
In the last election, Ruto is believed to have personally won the hearts of residents and did not bank on any of the local leaders to penetrate the region.
But lawyer Danstan Omari opined that Gachagua’s efforts to galvanise the mountain were aimed at a stab at the presidency in 2027 and not 2032.
“Gachagua is aware that the majority of Kikuyu never voted for Ruto [but] voted against Raila and Uhuru. It was a protest vote. He also knows that 47 per cent of the votes Ruto got came from Mt Kenya," he said.
“So, he feels he has enough people and resources to take on Ruto. And that is why Ruto has started campaigning outside Mt Kenya. He is focusing on Western, Coast and Northeastern.”