East of West: Will cracked Mt Kenya survive political unity test?

Over the years, the people in Mount Kenya West and East have voted as a bloc in successive elections, making it one of the most influential regions during general elections.

That political reality has made leaders with presidential ambitions view the region as indispensable to their quest.

The bloc is divided into Mt Kenya West, which comprises more counties -Kiambu, Nyandarua, Murang'a, Nyeri and Kirinyaga. Mount Kenya East has Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu counties.

Even before the late President Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) emerged victorious against Uhuru Kenyatta and others in the 2002 elections, people across the two regions voted and lost together.

Communities from Mt Kenya East in unison supported presidential candidates from the west side.

They voted for President Jomo Kenyatta from Kiambu, President Mwai Kibaki from Nyeri and President Uhuru Kenyatta (Kiambu).

So close was the relationship between the Kikuyu in Mount Kenya West and the Meru and Embu tribes in Mt Kenya East that presidents from the west in appreciation of the political support from the east, made sure to appoint ministers or cabinet secretaries from the latter.

The relationship remained unshaken in the 2022 general elections when the 2 regions voted for William Ruto, defeating Raila Odinga, despite the fact that President Uhuru wanted the victory to go the other way.

However, the cracks in the mountain were exposed during the fallout between President Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua (Nyeri, resulting in Gachaguas’s impeachment.

Perhaps to assuage Mount Kenya people, President Ruto nominated his Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki from Tharaka Nithi for DP, a decision that was affirmed by Parliament.

But that development to a large degree, soured the relationship between Ruto's administration and Mr Gachagua's Mt Kenya West region.

Even Prof Kindiki's position has not satisfied a big population and leaders, save for a section of Mount Kenya East that is still behind him and Ruto.

As Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Gachagua escalates his fight against the Ruto presidency, Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku who is from Embu, has threatened that the Meru and Embu people will no longer politically work with Mount Kenya West.

Ruku and Kindiki allies feel the DP is a heartbeat away from the presidency and blame Gachagua for seeking to prevent his ascendancy.

His argument is that the East has always supported the West in presidential elections, and it is time for payback.

Mr Ruku says the idea is to support Ruto for a second term next year, and then DP Kindiki will go for the presidency in 2032.

For long, only the Kikuyu benefited from government opportunities, yet we also had Mau Mau generals who also fought for independence," Ruku, who is from Mbeere in Embu, said.

Ruku said successive governments concentrated development projects and opportunities in the Kikuyu region (Mt Kenya west), yet Mt Kenya east had always supported their leaders in successive elections.

He accused the Mt Kenya West leaders of only using Mt Kenya East as a political stepping stone during elections.

"The Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi are not Kikuyu, even our culture and tradition are different," said the visibly agitated CS.

Ruku said the Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi people will no longer support leaders from Mt Kenya west who only want to use them for political gain.

He said it was wrong for Gachagua and others to try to turn the people in Mt Kenya East against Ruto, yet the region had, for the first time, gained from the national government.

"The government has revived roads that had stalled and is implementing electricity connections and water projects. But Gachagua cannot see that. He is busy calling our leaders soprano (Kindiki), Kasongo (Ruto) and other names. We will not accept it," said the minister.

He threatened that the people in Mt Kenya East will no longer support the political aspirations of mt Kenya West leaders.

"We are going to divorce officially from a community which has been so selfish, always thinking about their own interests," he said.

He added: "We are telling Wamunyoro (Gachagua) to confine himself to Nyeri and Murang'a. You cannot control us for 63 years."

He said as Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi leaders, they were ready to face Gachagua 'head-on'

Ruku claimed regions in Mt Kenya west had experienced more development in roads, electricity, water and other infrastructure, compared to Mt Kenya east.

"Because development was concentrated there. If you go there, there is electricity in all corners of Gatundu, and tarmac roads. It is now our turn to have roads built, electricity and water connections to homes, and our professionals appointed to senior positions in national government," Ruku said.

The Cabinet Secretary maintained that the Mt Kenya East region remains firmly behind Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.

He trashed discussions about the deputy presidency.

"The position is currently occupied and any succession debates should wait until after 2032," Ruku said, voicing his support for a Kindiki presidency in 2032.

He accused Gachagua of attempting to isolate the Mt Kenya West community politically from the rest of the country in his bid to deny a Ruto re-lection.

"Mt Kenya East is not going to be drawn into such political formations. We are fully behind Ruto and Kindiki."

“It cannot be that whenever projects are implemented in Mt Kenya West, there is a narrative being pushed by Gachagua and his allies in opposition that Mt Kenya East has also equally benefited,” Ruku stressed.

Ruku urged the Meru and rest of Kenyans to support Ruto's bid for a second term.

"There are visible and transformative development projects undertaken under the current administration," he said.

Ruku argued that the government's achievements in infrastructure, economic empowerment, and service delivery compare favourably with those of successive administrations since independence.

"Wananchi should remain united behind the President's development agenda to ensure the country sustains its current growth trajectory," he said.

"After President Ruto's second term, the next President of the Republic of Kenya will be none other than Prof Kindiki," Ruku says.

Ruku feels that the Kikuyu have betrayed the Embu and Embu people, for not supporting Kindiki.

He expressed disappointment that the Kikuyu had taken people in Meru and Embu for granted.

His remarks threatened to sever political ties that had existed between the two regions.

Mt Kenya East Parliamentary Caucus Chairman Patrick Munene regretted that some leaders from the West, led by Gachagua, are anti-Kindiki.

"I am in full agreement with CS Ruku.

When we supported Jomo Kenyatta, Kibaki, Uhuru, and even Gachagua as the deputy president, then the mountain was one, but now that Kithure Kindiki is the deputy president, they feel that we don’t belong together. It is not us dividing the mountain; it’s they who feel that Kindiki is not a Mlima (mountain) child enough," said Mr Munene (Chuka-Igambang'ombe).

Tharaka MP Gitonga Murugara says the political unity of the West and East should stand.

"I stand for the unity of the entire Mt Kenya. CS Ruku is expressing his opinion. However, I call upon the whole of Mt Keya to support President Ruto and Prof Kithure Kindiki," Mr Murugara said.

Igembe Central MP Dan Kiili said: "He (Ruku) is 100 per cent right; why do they only expect us to support them when climbing the leadership ladder but when we are on the east part and about to climb, pull down our ladder? They are not truthful relatives and we must disown them completely."

Political analyst Oscar Mutugi said there was a feeling that, despite the two regions voting as a united block in all the past elections, there was a feeling the main gainer was the west side.

"Mt Kenya East has consistently gotten the short end of the stick in its longstanding political marriage with the West; East gives the votes, West gets the projects. Mau Mau Roads, for instance, were lobbied for as an Mt Kenya project, but not an inch landed in Mt Kenya East," said Mr Mutugi.

He added, "For a region that apparently gains relevance just before elections and loses it immediately after every election, it's probably time for Mt Kenya East to rethink its relationship with Mt Kenya West. The litmus test for Mt Kenya West's willingness to return the favour and support Mt Kenya East was Kindness assumption of office as DP, but that goodwill has not been forthcoming. It is indeed a sign for East to cut ties with the West and chart its own political path."

Prof Gitile Naituli, a political analyst-cum governance expert, says Ruku's threat will not affect Mt Kenya politics.

"Mt. Kenya will remain united," he said