The landslide victory of DCP candidate Sammy Kamau in the Ol Kalou by-election should have been a straightforward democratic statement. Instead, it signals something far more sinister: Rigathi Gachagua’s emerging stranglehold on Mt Kenya politics, where dissent is branded betrayal and constitutional freedoms are treated as optional.
Fresh from routing UDA in Ol Kalou, Gachagua is already dictating terms for 2027. Politicians who refuse to join DCP or align with him risk being labeled “traitors” (wasaliti) and politically crushed. This is the same man who, as Deputy President, faced accusations of prioritizing his community while sworn to serve the entire nation. Post-impeachment, he has peddled the narrative that President William Ruto “hates” Kikuyus — a claim opponents rightly dismiss as inflammatory fiction designed to sow ethnic fear.
Kenya’s Constitution is clear. Article 36 guarantees freedom of association, including the right to join or form political parties without compulsion. Article 38 entrenches every citizen’s political rights to make choices freely. Gachagua’s playbook warning government operatives against late entry into DCP and framing non-alignment as disloyalty to the “community” directly assaults these pillars. It is not leadership; it is cult-like coercion dressed in ethnic solidarity.
Mt Kenya voters have every right to back DCP. But no leader should transform a political party into a loyalty test that punishes independent thought or association. This “join or be sent home in 2027” mentality echoes the very tribalism Gachagua claims to fight while actively weaponizing it. It risks fracturing the region, breeding resentment, and undermining the democratic choice that Ol Kalou’s voters just exercised.
True statesmanship respects diversity of opinion. Gachagua’s approach risks turning Mt Kenya into a political fiefdom where personal ambition trumps constitutional rights. Kenyans especially in the Mountain deserve better than a dangerous cult of personality masquerading as liberation. The ballot must remain free, not feardriven.
