President Ruto faces litmus test as he tours restive Mt Kenya region

After shying away from Mt Kenya region since the impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, President William Ruto is expected to test the depth of the troubled waters of the slippery mountain once again.

The Head of State, who had uncharacteristically avoided the voter rich region like a plague for months, is expected to visit Nyandarua, Nyeri, Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties, where he is expected to launch development projects even as he seeks to correct real and perceived misconceptions.

As part of the preparation of the meeting, the President met his allies from the restive region at State House, where they expressed concerns that his continued purge targeting the region had alienated him from the people. This, according to the leaders, has dented his popularity in the region as Gachagua is lionised by the locals.

Several MPs who attended the meeting say they maintained that the President should stop firing the people from the region serving in government as this is giving life to Gachagua’s narrative that Ruto is isolating the Mountain as his allies clap.

“We urged the President not to continue firing the people from our region as doing so makes us look stupid in the eyes of the electorate. If there are people he feels are not acting as per his wishes, we requested that we be given time to address them. If they must go, we should be allowed to propose names for their replacements,” an MP who attended the talks said.

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“We implored the President to order for timely completion and revival of stalled projects as a strategy to win back peoples’ hearts,” another one said.

According to the legislators, Ruto’s continued absence in the region was also aiding Gachagua’s narrative that he was a ‘use and dump person who was now keen on looking for new regions to back his re-election’.

“His absence, we told the President, was also doing us more harm than good on the ground. We are looking forward to reap from his visit as we shall authoritatively speak for him going forward,” another MP added.

Although the President has been invited to attend the consecration ceremony of Nyeri ACK bishop Canon Jonathan Kabiru, it is not clear whether he will be honouring the invite today as his diary had not been released by yesterday.

Those in the know said the President will start his visit on March 31 and that his tour would not be tented but would be inform of rallies where he will address the people from a car rooftop as he has been doing in the recent days.

“The diary may be released by Thursday this week after the weatherman releases his meteorological report to ensure that the visit is not be disrupted by the rains,” a source said.

Ruto’s allies in the region have confirmed his visit and have already started mobilising their supporters to welcome the President while pleading with the residents not to heckle him as he will be bringing development goodies which will positively impact the region.

Nyandarua Woman Representative Faith Gitau, while urging her supporters to come out in large numbers to welcome the Head of State, said his visit was crucial in unlocking the stalled projects. She said the region “will never be the same again after Ruto’s visit.”

“The President will be bringing us development. Our people should come out in large numbers and welcome him and not heckle him,” she said as she dismissed claims that the region would be affected by the purge at the National Assembly and in the Senate that saw several Mt Kenya leaders removed from committees’ leadership.

Kiruga Thuku,  a member of the UDA National Executive Council (NEC) and Chinga MCA, said the region was looking forward to Ruto’s visit and denied claims that the region was hostile to the President.

Mr Thuku said Ruto’s visit to the region would deal a political blow to the leaders who have been claiming that the region had divorced the President.

“I have heard the President say about five times that Mt Kenya region is second after God. He has told us, not once or twice, that after he gives thanks to God, Mt Kenya is second to him for making him President and he will use the tour to reassure the region that he is not in a fight with us,” Thuku said.

He insisted that Ruto’s allies will continue supporting him to realise his developmental agenda and not follow Gachagua blindly, even if it costs them their seats in 2027 elections.

“For some of us, we shall support Ruto and his government fully and allow him to implement his agenda and leave the voters to choose whether to elect their leaders based on development or pure rhetoric,” Thuku said.

Despite this, Gachagua’s allies have poured cold water on Ruto’s visit claiming it will be counterproductive since “his actions have proved he was not interested in the region.”

“If you look at the ongoing Parliamentary purge, the casualties are from Mt Kenya. Ruto has decided that no upcoming leader from Mt Kenya region will be allowed to grow or hone his or her leadership skills. That is why Rigathi Gachagua is no longer there, Ndindi Nyoro is no longer in the position he held, that is why Mithika Linturi was fired from Cabinet,” Muranga Senator Joe Nyutu said.

Ruto’s scheduled visit to the fidgety region comes just after he solemnised his political marriage with his political nemesis-turned friend Raila Odinga.

The visit also coincides with the purge that saw Gachagua’s allies removed from the powerful committees of both the Senate and the National Assembly, with analysts saying the visit may be an avenue to manage the electorate’s fury. A people who gave him over three million votes in the 2022 General Election.

It is instructive to note that the last time the President visited the region was on November 16 last year, where he received a cold reception from the congregants in Embu. This was during the episcopal ordination and installation of Bishop Peter Kimani Ndung’u, an event that saw him share a podium with Gachagua, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

What followed after the Embu incident was a hard time for Ruto’s allies with government officials and political leaders being jeered at funerals and other public events. President Ruto‘s condolences messages to bereaved families would also be disrupted.

Some of the casualties included President Ruto’s economic advisor Moses Kuria, who was booed and stopped from delivering a speech at a burial in Muranga.

Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika was shouted down as she tried to read Ruto’s condolence message at a burial in Nakuru, while Public Service CS Justin Muturi, was stopped by mourners in Embu from reading out the President’s message to the family of Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti at burial of their son Eric Mutugi.

In efforts to regain his dwindling political influence, the President appointed three Cabinet Secretaries from Mt Kenya, Mutahi Kagwe (Agriculture) William Kabogo (ICT) and Lee Kinyanjui (Trade), after his meeting with Uhuru at his Ichaweri home in Kiambu on December 9.

Despite the initiatives, Gachagua has continued cementing the anti-Ruto campaign in the region, accusing him of isolating the region from the rest of the communities, and  continually describing UDA as the most retrogressive party in the country’s political parties’ history. 

Perhaps informed by the political situation, the UDA party omitted Mt Kenya region from the second phase of grassroots elections that is scheduled to be held in 22 countries on April 11 and 12.

According to UDA’s National Elections Board chairperson Antony Mwaura, the elections will be held in Kitui, Machakos, Makueni, Kajiado, Turkana, Kisii, Nyamira, Bungoma, Migori, Siaya and Kisumu counties on April 11 and shall continue the following day in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Taita Taveta, Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu and Tana River counties.

“The National Elections Board of the United Democratic Alliance hereby issues an official notice regarding the Phase Two polling centre-level grassroots elections scheduled for April 11 and 12, 2025,” Mwaura said.

Initially, Ruto’s party had lined up Nyandarua, Tharaka Nithi, Kiambu, Embu, Meru, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Laikipia for the second phase of the exercise, which was to take place last year.