President William Ruto’s political prowess is set to be tested amid a growing rebellion by the ‘angry’ Mt Kenya following the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua by the National Assembly.
Ruto roused the region’s ire and offended ethnic sensibilities after engineering the removal of his divisive deputy who aspired to be the region’s supremo.
He was no longer useful and had become a liability.
Kenyan Politics 101, we know what happens next, some leaders and residents backing the DP have recently declared.
“No Gachagua, No Ruto,” after overwhelmingly voting for the 2022 Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua meets traders from Gikomba, OTC, Nyamakima and Tea Room in Nairobi on September 20 /DPCS ticket.
“For us, divorcing Rigathi is divorcing the whole mountain,” Murang’a Senator Joseph Nyutu said.
Later this week, the Senate will pronounce Gachagua’s political fate, following what is expected to be an irresistible vote against him. Some 282 MPs – including those from Mt Kenya – voted in favour of his removal, with only 44 rejecting the push.
The DP has publicly stated his impeachment has the approval of his boss, the man who single-handedly picked him as a running mate to bag Mt Kenya votes and trash the Kenyatta and Raila Odinga in the 2022 polls.
Gachagua, a skilled mobiliser, had but one term in Parliament and nuance was never his thing.
“To the issue that this impeachment motion could not find its way he President’s say-so, that is true, it can’t. It has the President’s go-ahead,” Gachagua said.
The Deputy President made the remarks during a press briefing at his Karen residence last Monday.
Ruto has maintained a stoic silence on the bloodletting, even as his close troops in Parliament vote and push for the removal of the country’s second in command.
“Ruto lost Mt Kenya a long time ago. The people lost trust in him and it will be very difficult for him to come back. Gachagua’s impeachment is just adding to it,” political commentator Macharia Munene said.
Before the introduction of the impeachment motion, Gachagua traversed Mt Kenya, poisoning the ground for Ruto and winning sympathy.
He has promised to disclose all the secret, distasteful inner workings of the government.
Observers say that the DP appears abandoned by a majority of MPs from the area.
His strategy to ingratiate himself with the masses would deal a blow to, and possibly diminish, Ruto’s influence with Kikuyu voters.
Nothing a bunch of goodies won’t fix.
“Gachagua has gained sympathy. He had not reached the level of Mountain kingpin but his mistreatment and impeachment have won over many hearts,” Munene reckoned.
However, political analyst Mark Bichachi said while Gachagua appears to be enjoying sympathy now, it is not guaranteed to continue after he is removed from office.
“The Deputy President is currently benefitting from the sympathy from the Mountain, but how long he can milk that sympathy is the key question,” Bichachi told the Star.
Nairobi-based political analyst Dismus Mokua said Gachagua’s removal will have little impact on the President’s influence in the region.
He argued President Ruto still enjoys the support of a majority of the region’s residents.
“Gachagua is engaged in politics of deceit by suggesting President Ruto has lost his Mt Kenya support on account of DP’s impeachment,” Mokua said.
Ruto could also employ the strategy he employed and hand out benefits to the region to regain political control.
“President Ruto had secured Mt Kenya’s support long before he nominated Gachagua as his running mate. Ruto has grassroots national support and he has Mt Kenya secured even if the DP replacement is not from Mt Kenya,” Mokua said.
Ruto’s choice of Gachagua’s successor could also determine Ruto’s acceptance level.
Further, the President has the leverage of elected leaders from the region on whom he can bank to get a generous slice of the key voting bloc. Interior CS Kithure Kindiki, Public Service CS Justin Muturi, former CS Moses Kuria, and National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah are among the key figures in the President’s camp.
“The mountain is intact. The mountain is named after Kenya because it belongs to all the people of Kenya,” Ichung’wah said in Parliament.
Kindiki, a no-nonsense achiever whose goal is results not adulation and higher office, is among the top names to be Gachagua’s successor.
“Picking a Kikuyu again for deputy will not help him that much, observers say. He lost the region when they realised he was not a man of his word. It may not be reversed by appointing Anne Waiguru, Kimani Ichung’wah or Kithure Kindiki,” university don Munene said.
Bichachi opined, however, that appointing a Kikuyu to replace Gachagua would deflate Ruto’s antagonists.
“He will simply appoint another person from Mt Kenya to replace Riggy G. The net effect will neutralise the anger at Riggy G being removed,” he said.
Other analysts and politicians said, however, that picking Kindiki would increase rebellion against the President in Mt Kenya West – largely Kikuyus – and enhance his popularity in Mt Kenya East – dominated by Embu, Meru and Mbeeres.
Despite the President enjoying the support of a majority of MPs from the region, his deputy is believed to have the heart of the masses, which could complicate the electoral matrix.
Reality checked in during the recent public participation conducted by the National Assembly in which a section of the residents chanted, “No Gachagua, No Ruto’.
“They need to listen to us, as they will need our support in 2027. We are backing one of our own, and if they ignore us, they should be ready to go home,” Macharia Mukua, a youth leader in Nakuru, said during the public participation.
Some residents have declared they will “never accept” Ruto if Gachagua loses his job. Nyutu said the mountain would withdraw its support for Ruto’s administration as well as his 2027 re-election bid.
“We have not seen anything Rigathi has done that Ruto as DP never did to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Uhuru never tried to impeach him [though it is said he considered doing so],” Nyutu said.
“It is something that we do not take lightly, and we know that without Ruto’s blessing, this motion would never have been tabled,” he added. Pundits said the vote-rich region handed Ruto the presidency after he garnered about 3.5 million votes from that area alone in 2022.
In a surprise development, Ruto toppled his boss, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, to become the region’s darling in the run-up to the election.
The region rejected Uhuru who had fronted opposition chief Raila Odinga as his successor.
Raila had long been reviled by the Mountain as the devil incarnate, largely due to relentless propaganda inspired by Uhuru’s characterisation of Raila in both the 2013 and 2017 polls.
Ruto’s UDA party swept the region, winning nearly all the elective seats.
While some argue Ruto’s inroads in the region were due to his own efforts, some argue that it was propelled by his decision to pick Gachagua as his running mate