Gachagua faces fresh threats to his grip on Mt Kenya

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Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) boss Rigathi Gachagua is facing renewed threats to his grip on the vote-rich Mt Kenya voting bloc, a month after his morale was boosted by an 85 percent win in the July 17 Ol Kalou by-election.

The win, in which his candidate, Kamau Ngotho, garnered 35,440 votes against President William Ruto’s candidate, Muchina Nyaga (United Democratic Alliance), who received 5,450 votes, motivated him to declare himself the undisputed king and DCP the party of choice in the region.

Mr Gachagua’s other competitors in the battle for control of the Mountain’s political soul in Ol Kalou were former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party, which got 198 votes, as well as former Meru governor Peter Munya’s Party of National Unity, which got 28 votes.

A month later, Mr Gachagua has been caught in a web of renewed opposition, the most significant being Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro’s move to join People’s Party of Kenya (PPK) as its leader.

Though Mr Nyoro is presenting his party as a new member of the opposition in pursuit of a joint presidential candidate and attempting to have President Ruto voted out in next year’s General Election, Mr Gachagua and his allies have immediately branded him a spoiler in the bid for a united Mt Kenya voting bloc.

“The Mountain is one, the party is one (DCP), the regional leader is one (Gachagua),” said DCP Secretary General designate Mr John Methu, who is also Nyandarua Senator.

Yet, Mr Nyoro has insisted that he is a genuine opposition leader seeking to help accelerate the goals of the opposition agenda.

“I will work with all opposition principals who include Mr Gachagua and my party will not offer refuge to Mountain rejects who have been all over insulting DCP and its leadership. I know there are those who doubt me. But in due course you will see my full colours in opposing and sending this government home,” he said.

Political pundits appear unanimous that, much as Mr Nyoro, just like Mr Gachagua, has a democratic right to run his political outfit, his strategy, timing and execution do not favour him.

Political scientist Gasper Odhiambo says Mr Nyoro is right to the extent of democratic liberties but will encounter opposition on the competition ground.

“Mr Gachagua has every right to treat Mr Nyoro as his opposition. The question of why Mr Nyoro waited until Mr Gachagua was impeached, faced goons and rogue police officers to mobilise Mt Kenya into opposition and in two years manage to win four by-elections and perform fairly well in three others makes it relatively obvious that he is obviously running against the grain,” he said.

Mr Odhiambo said Mr Gachagua encountered the same opposition when he was impeached and found Jubilee and PNU already in the opposition.

“Like Mr Gachagua, all Mr Nyoro need to do is to resist those negative jibes coming from DCP and attempt to emerge the superior. Had Mr Gachagua allowed himself to be sidelined in the opposition, he would not have realized his current high-flying political profile…Let us not pretend otherwise, Mr Nyoro has come in to compete with Mr Gachagua and DCP. What is not clear is whether he is acting on his own behalf or at the behest of a hidden muscle in the shadows of politics,” he said.

Mr Odhiambo reminds Mr Nyoro that towards Mr Gachagua’s impeachment in October 2024, his allies in Murang’a County, then led by Senator Joe Nyutu, had publicly warned President Ruto that he risked failing to defend his seat if he did not drop Mr Gachagua and pick Mr Nyoro.

“Mr Nyoro’s opposition against Mr Gachagua is not new…It has been there since 2022 because in all official functions that Mr Gachagua held in Mt Kenya when he was Deputy President, the Kiharu MP never attended even once. When Mr Gachagua was hounded out of office and was struggling to reinvent himself, Mr Nyoro was sitting on the fence. When Mr Gachagua appears to have stabilized his comeback, Mr Nyoro jumps into the fray with a competing political party and ambition. Mr Nyoro has a lot of explaining to do,” he said.

Yet, in his August 19 political rally in Kiharu, Mr Nyoro begged people to believe him that he means well and is by no way a saboteur.

“It is only that power is grabbed and not served…I have to present myself in the best way possible that makes me take control of my goals. I will field candidates and I will also bid for the joint opposition presidential candidate…I mean well and I urge all of us to be tolerant of each other,” he said.

Mr Nyoro’s entry into the field comes amid Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s perceived fresh push to split the Mountain by creating an independent Mt Kenya East, with Public Service CS Mr Geoffrey Ruku as instigator-in-chief.

In the plan, Mr Ruku says he wants to have Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu counties be under Prof Kindiki and negotiate with President Ruto for a stake in the next government.

Though Prof Kindiki publicly says the Mountain should be one, he has since been coronated by Meru and Embu elders as their spokesman.

“It cannot be that when the Deputy Presidency is bad when in the hands of the East but it is good when it is in the hands of the West brothers and sisters,” Prof Kindiki said on July 25.

In a tell-tale hint, Prof Kindiki said former Meru governor Mr Kiraitu Murungi has been mandated to partner with former President Kenyatta to ensure there is teamwork aimed at “preventing Mountain voters from making opposition choice in 2027”.

This also comes in the backdrop of Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri and his Ndia counterpart Mr George Kariuki launching ground onslaughts aimed at deflating Mr Gachagua’s influence.

While Mr Kiunjuri is coordinating fringe parties friendly to President Ruto in the Mountain region, Mr Kariuki is putting in place loyal grassroots opinion shapers to try to undo Gachagua’s influence.

Former Public Service CS Moses Kuria had earlier said the government was in the process of launching infiltrators into DCP, a move that flopped after Mr Gachagua put in place a seven-member vetting committee to clear any defector.

However, Mr Gachagua was to, on August 16, 2026, confess that the vetting committee was just a precautionary stopper.

“I welcome all of you but all the traitors of the community should face the people, not me…I know you will not be accepted since it is hard to trust you…but just know that I have forgiven you,” Mr Gachagua said.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.