DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua has emerged as Mt Kenya’s indisputable political king, with some of the MPs who engineered his unceremonious exit from office trooping back to bow to his power.
The influence which the former Deputy President is now seeking to extend beyond his Mt Kenya backyard has also effectively made him the fulcrum of the united opposition.
The latest to decamp from the ruling UDA over the DCP wave in Mt Kenya is Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe.
Lamu Woman Representative Muthoni Marubu also abandoned President William Ruto.
Kagombe is among the MPs who impeached Gachagua and for a long time maintained that Gachagua was overrating his influence.
There are speculations that many more MPs and political leaders from across Mt Kenya will defect to DCP.
But Gachagua’s influence is no longer confined to the mountain region.
The DCP leader has spread his tentacles into the Maa community, where he is driving a voter mobilisation campaign.
The party is also making inroads in the Coast region.
Part of his growing influence is cited in the DCP’s performance in the Narok Town MCA by-election last November, when the relatively young party beat established political formations, including UDA.
Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru said the defections from UDA were a vindication of warnings made by politicians who opposed Ruto’s political arrangements with the region.
“We told them to listen to the voice of people, but some of them were adamant. Some of them may return, yes, but the people had left,” he said.
But a section of Ruto allies dismisses the defections, arguing the MPs abandoning UDA are doing so because they have failed to deliver for their constituents.
Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi told the Star the defectors had realised they had little to show after three years in office.
“Those are MPs who have realised that they have spent three years already and have nothing to show for it on the ground,” he said.
Wamumbi said he would remain loyal to Ruto because his constituents were satisfied with the government’s performance, particularly on roads.
“They are the ones telling me to stay with Ruto. This thing doesn’t apply across the board, and I believe those who have delivered to the people have no reason to panic,” he said.
National Assembly Majority leader and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah has also dismissed the threat posed by DCP, declaring that he would rather lose his seat than join Gachagua’s party.
“I can never, ever, over my dead body, join that small party. Even if that means me losing my parliamentary seat,” Ichung’wah said in a television interview.
Gachagua’s growing clout, however, presents a new headache for the opposition itself.
Should the opposition win the 2027 presidential election, Gachagua would enter the new administration with significant political leverage, even if he is not the presidential candidate.
His influence could therefore determine not only who wins the election, but also how power is shared afterwards.
Other leaders who have defected to DCP include Nyandarua Governor Kiarie Badilisha and Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata.
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has said he will not seek re-election on a UDA ticket.
He has, however, remained non-committal about his next political home.
Several MCAs have also defected, reinforcing the perception that Gachagua is steadily rebuilding a political machine outside the ruling coalition.
Former Cabinet Secretary and former Ruto adviser Moses Kuria has predicted an even larger exodus of regional leaders from UDA in the coming months.
Political analyst Steve Ngari said the defections were a notable sign of Gachagua’s influence but cautioned against reading too much into them at this stage.
“It is still early. A lot will happen. Nominations are yet to happen, and that’s always a trigger for mass fallouts,” he said.
Ngari said the defections would only become politically significant if they grew into a broad-based movement involving leaders and voters across the region.
The former DP’s growing influence was on full display recently when he held a major press conference to give his assessment of Ruto’s record of the past four years.
His statement triggered an immediate response from MPs allied to the broad-based government led by Ichung’wah and Minority leader Mohamed Junet.
The Star understands that DCP has resolved to intensify its media appearances as it seeks to challenge government claims on the economy and service delivery.
On Thursday, a group of MPs led by Nyandarua Senator John Methu addressed the nation, dismissing Ruto’s claims of progress and seeking to counter the government narrative.
Gachagua’s ability to command political attention is also creating a dilemma for opposition leaders, particularly Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
The former Vice President, while viewed as one of the frontrunners for the opposition presidential ticket, has struggled to dominate the political conversation.
On the other hand, Gachagua’s activities have increasingly overshadowed those of other opposition leaders, with its luminaries increasingly reading from different scripts.
The former DP has become a regular feature of political conversations in the country, particularly whenever the question of Mt Kenya’s political direction comes up.
This could put Kalonzo in a difficult position as opposition parties negotiate the 2027 alliance.
With indications that Gachagua may not personally run for president in 2027, the bigger question then becomes what he wants from the opposition alliance.
The experience mirrors that of the National Rainbow Coalition after the 2002 election.
Mwai Kibaki won the presidency on the strength of a broad coalition that included Raila Odinga and several other powerful political leaders.
Raila was not president, but his political influence was immense.
The coalition eventually fractured, and Raila and his allies broke away from Kibaki’s government.
The fallout later contributed, to a greater extent, to the defeat of the government side in the 2005 constitutional referendum.
