Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is increasingly uneasy in his drive to consolidate Mount Kenya backyard as reliable vote base.
The outspoken second in command has left no doubts about his ambition for the top seat and the first checkbox is consolidation of his ethnic backyard to emerge as its undisputed leader.
Pundits claim the DP’s bid to build a cogent power base that would confer him political clout for 2027 is jolted by his unburnished image, inability to tame his tongue and failure to gain trust of key leaders from the region.
Gachagua’s wife Dorcas is the latest to give clearest indication of his ambition and the jolts he is facing, suggesting her husband’s role and future needed strenuous prayers for divine intervention.
“And those who keep talking about this wonderful husband of mine, [know that] he is a good husband and a good leader and he going to continue to lead. We are on our knees [for him],” Dorcas said on Monday at a prayer event.
She went added: “They said he will not get there [to power]; he is there by grace of God and will remain there.”
In his bid to consolidate the Mountain, Gachagua has made several forays into the area and appeared to go over the top in his attempts to burnish his image as the foremost defender of the interests of the region.
He has persisted with his talk of Kenya Kwanza government being a shareholding company, where people reap benefits depending on their contribution in terms of votes.
He latches on this message mostly when he visits his backyard, asserting that his ethnic group deserve many state appointments because they gave the most votes to the President.
The DP scaled up his drive for the objective when he said he would seek to meet retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and mend fences so that the region can speak in one voice.
But politicians and analysts that the Star spoke to say the DP has a number of huddles to surmount before he summits the Mountain.
Besides the apparent discord between him and politicians like Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, the comment by presidential aide David Ndii that characterised the DP as suffering from the hangovers of his Moi days clearly depicted the reception he has to grapple with.
“Factory Settings (as chairman, Nyeri District University Students Association (NDUSA), Oyugi Special DO, Uhuru PA etc etc),” Ndii posted in response to the DP’s latest Inooro TV interview where he sustained his discrediting of the ongoing Bomas talks as well as insistence on the government being a share-based entity.
Political science lecturer Professor Macharia Munene was blunter about the prospects of the DP, saying Gachagua should look into the mirror to see the chief huddles that he must overcome first in his mission.
Munene opines that the DP has an image problem borne from his alleged carefree speech style. He says that the DP has overly focused on his ambition to be an ethnic chieftain at the expense of the need to serve as a national leader.
“He believes he is the leader of the people from the region but he is immature and they don’t like being led by someone who is like that,” the political analyst said.
“When he talks carelessly, he comes about as divisive and isolating the people from Mount Kenya,” he said, adding that the DP is trying hard to gain acceptance in the region but his efforts are not going far enough.
On the decision of Gachagua to reach out to the former president in his bid, Munene thinks it's way late and that the damage on the former head of state had left a mark.
“People did not like that he beat up on Uhuru so bad during inauguration. Uhuru was down because he had just been defeated in the election and Gachagua should have been magnanimous and respectful, but he blew the chance to show maturity. People did not like that,” he said.
He added: “And at some point, he purported to ask Uhuru to look for him. How can that happen? Uhuru is a former president, [while] Gachagua is there courtesy of Ruto. I don’t think the man has advisers and if he has, he does not take advice.”
Gatanga MP Edward Muriu concurred that the DP still had a longer distance to travel in his bid because he has yet to deliver on the docket mandates the President had assigned to him.
“He was tasked to look into the issues of tea, milk, coffee, macadamia as well as the alcohol problem in our region. Has he delivered? No,” he said.
So, it is difficult for people to coalesce around someone who has not produced results, he said.
He faulted Gachagua's approach to dealing with alcohol issues, saying it required a change of law "and not going to villages and threatening chiefs with sackings."
Muriu, however, refuted claims of cracks in the region, saying it was still early to start assessing the potential of personalities.
Former Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri expressed concerns about Gachagua's recent political manoeuvres, claiming that both himself and Ndindi Nyoro had been sidelined by the DP.
He also took issues with the DP’s apparent speaking out of turn with the President.
"I also want to remind the Deputy President that the most important duty after being elected as President is to unite all Kenyans. The President is a symbol of unity and should not be involved in discussions about shares," Ngunjiri said.
However, Kiambu Senator Karungo Thangw'a has denied claims of a rift between the DP and President Ruto, dismissing them as mere creations of the media.
He praised Rigathi's efforts to unite the region, emphasising that he is the region's de facto leader, and there is no harm in him extending an olive branch to former President Uhuru Kenyatta for a handshake.
"Forget about the speculations from opponents; there is no enmity within UDA, and we are speaking with one voice. I can confidently state that Gachagua is fully in control of the region and uniting its leaders," Senator Thangw'a asserted.
Thuo Mathenge, the leader of the New Democrats Party and patron of the Kikuyu Men's Conference, urged Gachagua to consolidate support from all leaders in the region.
He said that uniting the community would be a challenging task for Gachagua alone, and he should seek support from community members, religious institutions, and the political class.
"We have already planned a conference dubbed Limuru 3 and we have reached out to former President Uhuru Kenyatta and he is ready to meet Gachagua for community talks, and we are awaiting confirmation of the date," Mathenge said.
He stressed that failure to speak with one voice within the Mount Kenya region would work to their disadvantage.
Kungu Muigai, the patron of the Kikuyu Council of Elders, highlighted the significance of unity within the Mountain and advocated for support to all leaders.
He said that both Uhuru and Gachagua are sons of the region and should be free to act in the best interest of the community.
"Gachagua is right to call for the unity of the Mount Kenya region, and he should be supported," Muigai said.