Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s perceived fallout with key leaders of the Kenya Kwanza government could have endeared him to his vast Mount Kenya heartland, thus cementing his kingship bid.
While most Kenya Kwanza politicians face hostilities in their backyards after backing the impugned Finance Bill, 2024, Gachagua has enjoyed warm receptions.
The DP has emerged as the darling of most Kenya Kwanza supporters not only his Mount Kenya bastion but also President William Ruto's Rift Valley base.
Gachagua has twice toured Ruto's heartland since May, ostensibly as part of his plans to listen more to the ground in the wake of public rage against the government.
His recent tour of Bomet County did not receive any resistance, despite coming days after openly criticising the performance of National Intelligence Service boss Noordin Haji.
While attending a church service in Kaplong on June 30, Gachagua insisted that the country was against punitive taxes and warned leaders against displays of raw arrogance and opulence.
Most Rift Valley MPs gave the event a wide berth except for his few allies from the region including Emurr Dikkir MP Johan Ng'eno.
Political analysts opine that Gachagua's failure to endorse the Finance Bill publicly, his sudden push for the one man, one shilling and his Mount Kenya unity push have rallied the region behind him.
It is understood that Gachagu has successfully used the alleged Kenya Kwanza fallout to pacify his initially restive backyard and bridged the leadership vacuum, managing to firm up his foothold as the region’s de facto leader.
Since the exit of Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, there has been a feeling that the region was left without a clear political father, triggering divisions and a vicious scramble.
Gachagua's changing fortunes in his turf, political pundits say, signal his growing influence that could threaten Kenya Kwanza’s dividends ahead of the 2027 polls.
The DP's decision to work with former critics appears to have paid off, with most of his hitherto opponents having retreated except for a few including Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
No longer at ease
Despite his perceived lucky turn of events, the DP faces a few hurdles including vicious opposition from some of his former allies turned foes as he seeks to consolidate Mt Kenya.
Political Risk Analyst Dismus Mokua opines that the DP still has some ground to cover to firm up his bid as the foremost political leader of Mount Kenya.
“Gachagua is a beneficiary of a few missteps by some Kenya Kwanza politicians, especially in Mount Kenya region who underrated his influence from the word go," the analyst said.
Mokua noted that the tide is steadily turning against Gachagua’s hitherto political enemies while enhancing his relevance as the region’s political godfather.
“We could argue that Gachagua has managed to counter his critics by advancing issues that continue to trouble many Kenya including resonating well with the rage against the government," Mokua said.
Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi, a former ally of the DP, has admitted the existence of a rift between him and Gachagua as they clashed over the weekend.
Wamumbi, the DP's MP in his rural village, has threatened to expose why they fell out, insisting that their issues have nothing to do with the alleged reopening of bars in the constituency.
“It is true there is a rift between the Deputy president and I. He should say the truth, and nothing but the truth,” he said.
“It is about something bigger than that,” he stated.
As part of his strategy to consolidate his Mount Kenya backyard, Gachagua has extended an olive branch to his enemies including Uhuru, telling the region that the ex-president is their son and would not abandon him.
Gachagua had previously attacked Uhuru and the former first family.
The DP’s surprise move to cease political attacks against Uhuru is seen as a political masterstroke that thawed their ties and reduced hostilities amid the alleged fallout with President William Ruto.
The public rage against President Ruto’s administration and the revolt over the government’s punitive taxes especially those targeting small businesses are perceived to have worked in Gachagua’s favour.
“The majority underrated Gachagua and even claimed that he did not bring any votes to Kenya Kwanza. Little did they know that the growing public resentment against the government would hand him the wings to fly higher than his rivals," said political analyst Alexander Nyamboga.
Nyamboga argues that the DP managed to turn the tide against the government in his favour through his consistent claims that he is listening to the ground.
“When you look at him and analyse his speech, he talks the language of the ordinary Kenyan frustrated by the government and every time reminds Kenyans how they are being shortchanged. That has greatly endeared him to the people," he said.
In no-hold-barred punches, Gachagua has been hitting on the government and even claiming that some leaders are “arrogantly displaying wealth and vomiting on Kenyans when their stomachs are full".
Former Cabinet Minister Chris Obure said the DP managed to quickly read the signs on the wall and “ stand with the people’’ even as the government pushed for the Bill.
“He had a chance of a lifetime to shore up his fortunes by disassociating with the Kenya Kwanza policies including the tax measures and that is how he is being seen as the Mount Kenya kingpin at the moment," Obure said.
The former Bobasi MP, however, cautioned that it is too early to correctly interpret how Mount Kenya will behave going forward given that several factors will determine the voting patterns in 2027.
“Some of Gachagua’s critics may need to reconsider their public posturing and climb down to the reality that listening to the people pays off in the long run," he said.
Warm reception
The DP has been traversing sections of his Mount Kenya region attending funerals and church services, firing back at his critics while insisting on “listening to the ground’’.
Gachagua thanked President Ruto for rejecting the Finance Bill but regretted that it took street protests for the government to realize that the people were against the proposed taxes.
The remarks at a press briefing in Mombasa moments after Ruto rejected the Bill and returned it to Parliament caught many Kenyans by surprise amid fears that they exposed the government’s soft underbelly.
In a deliberate move to counter the influence of his critics, the DP’s political script shows determination to associate government failures with some Kenya Kwanza politicians.
The DP has branded as traitors and betrayers Mount Kenya leaders opposed to his one man, one shilling mantra insisting that as the country’s second in command he is determined to push for fairness in resource allocation.
Last Saturday, Gachagua told off critics of the one man, one shilling push claiming they are being used to fight Mount Kenya unity.
“My call of community unity is being fought even by some of our own who we must subject to prayer, history is repeating itself where we had betrayers of the common cause of the community,’’ Gachagua said during a burial in Nyeri.
“Some of our people who have been appointed into government have been overfed by our detractors and are now vomiting on us, even after we are saying we don’t have money in the economy and are walking around carrying money in sacks to advance narratives that will do us no good,’’ he said.
The initial talk of propping up other youthful leaders to take over the baton of the kingship of the region from Uhuru appears to have died a natural death.
There was a push to propel Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro as Ruto's 2027 running mate, with some of Gachagua's critics saying he fitted the bill.
Recently, Gachagua threw a spanner in the works when he hailed Nyoro's leadership as the National Assembly's Budget and Appropriation Committee chairperson, saying he is an intelligent young man.
In what caught his critics flatfooted, he revealed that Nyoro was a key buddy who supported him immensely when Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration was pursuing him.
"I want to say that my younger brother here Ndindi Nyoro has done a good job, I am also a beneficiary of Ndindi's economic policies," he said last month.
"For those of you who may not know, for many days when I was in trouble with the previous administration for fear of arrest over the weekends, I would spend the weekends in Ndindi Nyoro's house."