The challenge for Deputy President-designate Kithure Kindiki is whether he can consolidate agitated Mt Kenya following the impeachment of its ‘native son’, fire-breathing DP Rigathi Gachagua.
The DP from the mountain’s heart of Nyeri played a vital role in mobilising the Kikuyu votes in favour of presidential candidate William Ruto. Kindiki, who was favoured for DP by Ruto’s allies, is from Tharaka Nithi.
President Ruto picked the efficient, no-nonsense, but soft-spoken law professor to succeed Gachagua but the indicted DP rushed to court and secured temporary orders blocking his replacement.
Gachagua’s removal has triggered disquiet in the region, especially from his Mt Kenya West turf, with the residents saying they will reject Ruto at the ballot in 2027.
“For us, divorcing Rigathi is divorcing the whole Mountain,” Murang’a Senator Joseph Nyutu said, clearly indicating the region’s anger with the President.
Gachagua hails from vote-rich Mt Kenya West, comprising Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Nyeri, Laikipia and Nyandarua counties.
Kindiki, on the other hand, comes from the East, composed of Embu, Meru, Tharaka Nithi and parts of Isiolo counties.
The apparent revolt by the region that voted overwhelmingly for Ruto to be the head of state now poses a challenge to Kindiki to consolidate the area behind the President’s re-election.
He is in a tight spot as he needs to rally the factions and calm their anger triggered by Gachagua’s removal from office.
With Gachagua’s impeachment, Kindiki is now the highest-ranking state official from the region that Ruto must depend on to retain his support base.
Political commentator Elias Mutuma said Kindiki is a likeable person who portrayed himself as a national leader and thus a valuable asset for Ruto in consolidating not only Mt Kenya but also other parts of the country.
“Kindiki is widely acceptable, even outside Mt Kenya because of his stature and demeanour. He is a likeable character,” Mutuma, who is also a High Court advocate, said.
The lawyer said the pioneer Tharaka Nithi senator has a statesman’s personality, an attribute that could help him solidifying the region, which is bound to receive development benefits.
“Within a short time, he may use that to his advantage. He is a national leader and he has portrayed himself thus as Interior CS and that can work for him in and out of Mt Kenya,” he said.
However, other pundits doubted Kindiki’s ability to firmly marshal the area behind him and the Ruto administration.
University don Herman Manyora argued the outgoing CS appears not to possess the combative political credentials to rally the region behind him and diminish Gachagua’s influence.
“He has to prove it but for now he does not appear to have that character and ability to consolidate Mt Kenya East, let alone the entire region,” he said.
The professor said the region is unhappy with Ruto over various issues, such as the cost of living and new levies, and it would be a tall order for Kindiki to win them over to the wisdom of Ruto’s actions.
In addition, Kindiki bears a ‘flower girl label, especially after Gachagua apparently convinced the region that Ruto was getting rid of him to create room for a ‘weaker’ politician whom he can easily manipulate.
Gachagua styled himself as the Mountain’s kingpin and championed its interests above all others. “Kindiki will struggle to shed the label of ineffective flower girl. It is already ingrained in people’s minds," Manyora said.
“For over 60 years, our Kikuyu cousins have treated us as mere voting machines,” Mbeere MP Geoffrey Ruku said during an interview last month.
“Now, we are asserting our independence and will determine our own political and economic future,” he said.
Since Independence, Kenya has had five presidents, with three from Mt Kenya West. They are Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who came from Kiambu, Mwai Kibaki who hailed from Nyeri and Uhuru Kenyatta who came from Kiambu.
With Kindiki’s elevation, he becomes the first person from Mt Kenya East to hold the office of the second most powerful person in Kenya.
Last month, more than 40 MPs from Mt Kenya East endorsed Kindiki as the spokesman and the link between the region and President Ruto.
“Through collaboration and constant dialogue, we are confident that Mt Kenya East will progressively secure a stronger recognition in the national agenda,” they said.
“As a region, we have come of age and will now focus on development affecting our people,” they said.
During an interview with vernacular radio stations days before his removal, Gachagua warned of a plot by forces outside the region to split the area.
He likened the situation to the divisive politics of the Moi era, in which attempts were made to fracture the unity of Central Kenya’s voting bloc.
“This feels like the strategy Moi used to divide the mountain. Back then, they started a campaign to divide Mt Kenya, saying things like, ‘Kiambu has had the presidency twice, then Nyeri — now it’s Murang’a’s turn,’ and so on,” the former DP said.
Unlike Gachagua who joined politics in 2017, Kindiki began his political career in March 2013 when he was elected senator for Tharaka Nithi.
He served as Senate majority leader for five years. A legal scholar, he is considered thoughtful, fair-minded but adamant and highly efficient.
While naturally ambitious, he is not considered driven by ruthless striving and scheming that tramples all adversaries and critics.
Re-elected in 2017, he served as the chamber’s deputy speaker until 2020, when he was sacked in a purge of Ruto’s allies. When Ruto won the 2022 presidential election, he appointed Kindiki to his first Cabinet.
In July, he was sent home after the President sacked the entire Cabinet following the Gen Z protests. He got the job back in the new Cabinet, based on his competence.
During his tenure as Interior CS, Kindiki made progress fighting terrorism in Rift Valley. He also can be tough, and oversaw the response to the wave of Gen Z protests that began in June.
At least 40 people died in the clashes with the police and at least 300 others were wounded, but Kindiki praised the officers for exercising “restraint” while enforcing law and order. He denied any shoot-to-kill orders were issued.
His stance was met by public anger, with rights groups demanding justice for victims as well as individuals abducted under mysterious circumstances.
In his response to the demonstrations, Kindiki burnished his credentials as a fighter and supporter
of the President, surviving a cull of
Cabinet secretaries.
