Deputy President Kithure Kindiki is mounting a targeted strategy to consolidate Mt Kenya East as President William Ruto’s camp seeks to salvage support in a region that has become increasingly hostile.
The strategy is playing out through a series of political engagements by Kindiki with elders, UDA grassroots officials, governors, MPs and opinion shapers across Meru, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi counties.
The July Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election offered the clearest signal yet that winning back Mt Kenya West could be a formidable task for Ruto.
DCP candidate Sammy Kamau defeated UDA’s Samuel Muchina by 35,440 votes to 5,450, handing the opposition a crushing victory despite allegations of voter inducements and state-sponsored violence.
By comparison, Mbeere North offered the government a much narrower escape route. In the November 2025 by-election in Embu, UDA’s Leo Wamuthende defeated opposition candidate Newton Kariuki by just 494 votes, polling 15,802 against Kariuki’s 15,308.
The contrasting results appear to have reinforced a calculation within Kindiki’s camp: If Mt Kenya West is increasingly slipping away from the administration, consolidating the East could become critical to his political survival as DP and bargaining power ahead of 2027.
The 2022 IEBC register had 772,139 registered voters in Meru, 334,302 in Embu and 231,932 in Tharaka-Nithi, giving the three Mt Kenya East counties a combined 1.34 million registered voters.
Kindiki’s activities over the past two weeks have been concentrated in these counties, pointing to an increasingly deliberate effort to build a political base in the region.
On August 15, he met more than 30,000 elders brought together by the Mt Kenya East Council of Elders, representing communities from Meru, Tharaka-Nithi, Embu, Isiolo and Mwea areas.
The elders resolved to promote national unity, resist divisive politics and support interventions they believe advance Kenya’s development.
They also called on their counterparts in Mt Kenya West to reciprocate decades of political support by backing Kindiki and supporting his future presidential ambitions.
The symbolism of the Nembure meeting was significant as the elders said Nembure was traditionally a place where disputes among the Aembu were settled with finality.
Kindiki appealed for unity in a region that is increasingly becoming a battleground between the opposition and Kenya Kwanza,
A week later, he was back in Tharaka-Nithi, this time meeting 15,000 UDA grassroots officials.
There, he described the party’s polling-centre officials as the government’s “frontline army” and “first line of defence” in explaining the administration’s achievements.
Kindiki told the officials they would have to defend the government’s record on the economy, agriculture, education, healthcare, jobs, electricity and infrastructure as the country enters the election year.
The event was framed around strengthening UDA’s grassroots machinery ahead of 2027 polls.
At the Kinoru Stadium in Meru on Saturday, Kindiki hosted more than 40,000 grassroots leaders and opinion shapers from Meru, Tharaka-Nithi, Embu, Kitui and Kirinyaga counties.
Among those who accompanied Kindiki was Water and Irrigation CS Eric Mugaa, who openly framed the gathering as part of a broader political journey.
Mugaa said Mt Kenya East had stood with its Mt Kenya West counterparts for many years and that it was now time for the West to return the favour.
“I will call him [Kindiki] our leader in this area. We will stand with him and walk together in this journey. It is time to remind them that it is also time for us to stand with our own,” Mugaa said.
Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire argued that while Mt Kenya East had consistently supported and respected leaders from the West, the same support had not been extended to Kindiki.
She said the region would back Kindiki within Ruto’s camp, where he occupies the country’s second-highest office, and prepare him for the presidency in 2032.
But despite Kindiki’s spirited push, Gachagua is not relenting.
Just a day after the Kinoru meeting, the former Deputy President was back in the region, seeking to stamp his authority and challenge Kindiki’s influence.
During his tour of Embu, Gachagua accused Kindiki of being used by Ruto to divide Mt Kenya.
“Professor, you have embarrassed us. You have been instructed by Ruto to summon elders from Mbeere, Tharaka and Meru to help you divide the mountain. But traditionally, the work of elders is to bring people together,” Gachagua said.
