President William Ruto and his then Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua enjoy a cup of tea with bread in the house of Mama Mirriam Njeri in Muranga County on August 9, 2024.
A sulking Mountain, smarting for revenge, best describes the emotional politics playing out in a region that is preparing to welcome Rigathi Gachagua’s new political party in May.
This is a region where President William Ruto once reigned supreme, having secured an astonishing 87 per cent of the vote in 2022. But that political romance has since soured.
Through the formation of a broad-based Cabinet in July 2024 — which controversially brought Raila Odinga’s allies into government at the height of the Gen Z protests — President Ruto began to lose ground.
The little faith that remained was battered in October last year, when President Ruto’s administration sponsored the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, a move that many Mt Kenya voters saw as betrayal.
Mr Gachagua was eventually replaced by Prof Kithure Kindiki, a two-term senator and Interior Cabinet Secretary from Tharaka Nithi, a county that is part of the Mt Kenya East bastion of the populous region.
Today, Mt Kenya is a hotbed of emotions—anger, betrayal, revenge—all boiling under the surface as voters grapple with seven powerful forces that will likely shape their decisions in 2027: a bogeyman to defeat, revenge, regionalism, silent 2032 ambitions, the big family syndrome, fear of isolation, and concern over violence targeting the Mt Kenya diaspora in hotspots across the country.
Mr Gachagua, now repositioning himself as Mt Kenya’s political kingpin, has wasted no time defining the 2027 battle lines. He has urged Mt Kenya voters to make removing President Ruto their principal agenda.
According to former Laikipia Woman Representative Cate Waruguru, the region’s political instincts are clear.
"Mt Kenya region votes best when it has someone in mind it wants locked out of a win. Since the onset of multiparty democracy, Mt Kenya voted in 1992 and 1997 to try and kick Daniel Moi out," Ms Waruguru said.
"In 2002, the region voted to block Moi’s project, Uhuru Kenyatta, from ascending to power. In subsequent elections, Raila Odinga became the bogeyman. Now, we are unanimous that our express goal is to kick President Ruto out of power in 2027," she added.
However, Murang’a Woman Representative Betty Maina disputes this narrative.
"President Ruto is not a bogeyman. He remains loved in the Mountain. Only a few brainwashed people have a problem with our President," she said. "We will be part of the voting bloc that ensures President Ruto rules for 10 uninterrupted years."
The feeling of betrayal is fuelling a deep thirst for revenge in the region, former Public Service CS Justin Muturi, who was fired from Cabinet after months of confronting his boss about his running of the country, suggests.
"Mt Kenya will close ranks with others from different regions to avenge abductions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and state-sponsored brutality. The people will rise against a culture of lies, corruption, and opulence," Mr Muturi said.
Mr Gachagua has also urged the Mountain to remember the wrongs committed against them, particularly his impeachment and the over-taxation burden placed on ordinary Kenyans.
However, Gatundu North MP Elijah Kinyanjui believes voters will "avenge" differently — against Mr Gachagua himself.
"This is a man who has made a political life out of insulting people by calling them traitors. We in Mt Kenya impeached him largely because of such demeaning utterances and his love for threats," Mr Kinyanjui, an ally of President Ruto, said.
During an April 1, 2025 press conference at Sagana State Lodge, President Ruto also claimed Mr Gachagua was impeached "for insulting and quarrelling with nearly everyone he encountered as Deputy President." It is something the former Deputy President has denied.
According to political scientist John Okumu, the Mountain’s unity is now at risk as President Ruto’s strategists seek to split the bloc.
"President Ruto must be watching the organic crowds that Gachagua assembles at short notice. He will most likely attempt to tackle him through sponsored divisions," Mr Okumu said.
He pointed to ongoing efforts to create a loyal Mt Kenya East bloc around Embu, Meru, and Tharaka Nithi counties.
Already, Mr Gachagua has sounded an alarm about a plan "to sponsor at least one presidential aspirant in every Mt Kenya County to dilute the Mountain’s voting power."
The by-election set to be conducted in Mbeere North after Mr Geoffrey Ruku was plucked from to replace Mr Muturi in Cabinet is to be the first battle ground to test Mr Gachagua’s political grip on the region.
For Mr Ruku and Prof Kindiki, beating Mr Gachagua and Mr Muturi will be a big plus just like it will boost their opponents.
Speaking in Maragua town on April 6, Gachagua warned: "Wheelbarrow political parties will start getting launched bearing different colours, but they will all be special-purpose vehicles for President Ruto."
The 2027 contest is also coloured by silent ambitions for 2032.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, a long-time aspirant for the presidency, is quietly positioning himself.
"At my age, I can afford to wait for Mr Kenyatta to end his rule in 2022, and Ruto to exit in 2032, then I come in," Mr Kiunjuri said during a 2022 interview.
At 55 today, Mr Kiunjuri would be 63 in 2032— a relatively prime age for a presidential run.
"The first agenda is to rescue my community from rebel politics, make Ruto win a second term, and in 2032 we shall see what the North holds for us," he recently said.
Another player is the Kenyatta family.
In 2022, former President Uhuru Kenyatta backed Raila Odinga of Azimio but suffered humiliation when Dr Ruto hogged most of the Mt Kenya vote.
But as a fabulously wealthy family that has ruled the country between 1963 and 1978 (Jomo Kenyatta) with his son Uhuru Kenyatta taking over from 2013 to 2022, it appears that the Kenyattas’ influence could still be a part of the 2027 vote.
Today, Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni says Mr Kenyatta and his allies are backing former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as their preferred 2027 candidate.
However, Mr Gachagua is leaning towards an alliance with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka — and a combination of other opposition figures, including former Defence minister Eugene Wamalwa, Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya.
"I am looking at a situation whereby Mt Kenya will mobilise about 8 million votes, and the Akamba bring in about 4 million. Combined with other regions, we can build a winning screamer of about 12 to 14 million votes, enough to send Ruto home in round one," Mr Gachagua recently told Ukambani radio stations.
Isolation is another fear gnawing at Mt Kenya voters.
Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama warned that President Ruto could group other regions against the Mountain in 2027.
Kikuyu Council of Elders Chairman Wachira Kiago also emphasised the need to handle the sensitive matter cautiously given the history of violence in some hotspots.
"Every election comes with a security threat for the Mt Kenya communities living outside the Mountain—in Rift Valley, Lamu, and other counties," he said.
The Mountain appears to be a region on the edge — angry, wounded, and determined to chart its own future in 2027.
"When Mt Kenya voters feel wronged, there is no political decision too heavy for them," said former Mt Kenya MCAs caucus chair Charles Mwangi.
"Big names have fallen before: Uhuru Kenyatta, Martha Karua, Wangari Maathai, Amos Kimunya, Peter Kenneth among others. I think 2027 could see another political bloodbath."
Whether loyalty, revenge, fear, hope or ambition will ultimately prevail remains to be seen.
But political Scientist Gasper Odhiambo warns that regionalism stands as the biggest threat to solidarity in 2027 with various Mt Kenya counties coming with demands. This, he says, will be a big unity test for Mr Gachagua, Dr Ruto and their allies as they target the vote-rich region.
