The Mbeere North by-election has erupted into a fierce showdown between Kenya’s past and present deputies, laying bare the shrinking influence of former DP Rigathi Gachagua and the unexpected rise of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as Mt Kenya’s new power centre.
For Gachagua — ousted last year over graft and insubordination — the November 27 vote was meant to be his grand return. He stormed Mbeere North with a crusader’s zeal, casting the poll triggered by MP Geoffrey Ruku’s elevation to Cabinet as a stage to “humiliate” President William Ruto and cripple UDA. Backed by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and DAP-K’s Eugene Wamalwa, he vowed to remain in the constituency until Democratic Party candidate Newton “Karish” Kariuki clinched victory.
Yet his abrasive campaign has largely backfired. The name-calling — including repeated digs at Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire — and familiar grievances from Nyeri have reinforced his image as a divisive agitator rather than a regional statesman. His party’s former nominee, Evurore MCA Duncan Mbui, walked away months earlier, deriding DCP as a “members’ club,” while Gachagua’s pre-emptive rigging claims to IEBC are being dismissed as defeatism.
Into this fray stepped Deputy President Kindiki — calm, calculated and unflustered. Ruto’s decision to deploy him rather than personally confront Gachagua has flipped the script. Kindiki has drawn huge crowds in Ishiara and Gitiburi, anchoring his pitch on concrete gains: Sh336 million in electrification projects, Sh250 million in water schemes, and pledges of expanded development budgets. His backing of UDA’s Leonard Wamuthende has injected fresh momentum into the race, turning the previously low-profile candidate into a national headline.
“Leo Muthende is day to their night,” Kindiki declared, urging residents to reject “imported chaos.”
Should UDA’s candidate prevail — as early numbers suggest — Gachagua’s claim to Mt Kenya’s crown will be dealt a devastating blow. In Mbeere North, the former DP sought resurrection. Instead, he may have met his reckoning.
