Deputy President Kithure Kindiki in Kiambu on September 19,2026/DPCS
Deputy President Kithure Kimdiki speaking at Gitimene Market in Buuri Constituency on September 22, 2026./DPCS
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has in recent weeks stepped up political engagements across Mt Kenya.
Kindiki has been meeting elders, church leaders, business leaders and grassroots networks as President William Ruto’s administration seeks to rebuild ties with the region.
The engagements have taken Kindiki from Mt Kenya East to the western side of the mountain, with the Deputy President increasingly presenting himself as a bridge between the region and the national government.
On Saturday, September 19, Kindiki hosted more than 10,000 elders from the GEMA community at Kirigiti Stadium, where he pleaded for peace and unity, noting that the region should remain united even beyond the 2027 General Election.
“I have heard you, and I will do so as directed. I will ensure, as the Deputy President of Kenya, that the region gets its rightful share of development. I will, with your counsel and prayers, assist President Ruto to ensure Kenya is united, peaceful and developed,” Kindiki said while accepting a new spokesperson role for the Mt Kenya region.
While expressing his sadness over the divisive talk that had prevailed in the region for months, amid increasing calls to split the Mt Kenya region into two over differing political interests, the Deputy President appreciated the efforts by elders to rein in the situation.
“I have been saddened for months by the intensifying divisive talk in our region. Our forefathers ensured the unity of our people and we will not be the first ones to break this accord. They fought together for our independence. They sang Mau Mau redemption songs together,” Kindiki said while urging Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku to shun divisive politics.
The call for unity came after months of political activity in which leaders from different parts of the Mountain had increasingly taken divergent positions on how the region should organise itself politically ahead of 2027.
Ruku had at one point used a symbolic axe to represent what he described as the political divide between Mt Kenya East and Mt Kenya West, with the debate creating fresh tensions over who should speak for the wider region.
At Kirigiti, however, the symbolism changed. Ruku returned the axe to the elders, who handed him a flywhisk as a symbol of reconciliation and unity.
Njuri Ncheke Council of Elders Secretary-General for Operations Josphat Murangiri told The Star that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki had been tasked with reaching out to all leaders and ensuring peace and unity across the region.
Murangiri said the elders would continue reaching out to all leaders and elders in Mt Kenya irrespective of their political affiliations ahead of the 2027 General Election.
“We presented Kithure Kindiki to Mt Kenya West elders on behalf of Njuri Ncheke as a sign of demonstrating that there is no division between East and West, we will support him as the region most high politician,” he said.
He maintained that the Kirigiti event was meant for elders and not politicians, and that this was the reason political leaders were not invited or given an opportunity to speak.
“Politicians have messed this Country and that why as elders, we have agreed to lead them to the right way and we are happy that unity call across the region is gaining momentum,” Murangiri said.
He said the elders’ intervention was intended to prevent political differences among leaders from spilling over into communities that continue to share cultural and historical ties.
Murangiri also said the elders would continue engaging leaders from across the region, regardless of their political affiliations, in an effort to create a wider platform for dialogue as the country moves towards the 2027 elections.
Kiago said the Mt Kenya community should always work together as it had done in the past, maintaining that elders would reach out to all leaders within GEMA as well as Kamba elders as part of a comprehensive unity initiative.
“We have planned to hold another meeting with all elders including those from Kamba community for a proper meeting but the central role is that Kenya we need peace for the sake of prosperity,” Kiago said.
Political analysts argue that the recent elders’ intervention gives Kindiki a broader platform from which to pursue his outreach across the Mountain, particularly at a time when competing political interests are seeking to define the region’s direction ahead of 2027.
Political analyst Albert Kasembeli and columnist has told The Star that Kindiki’s Mt Kenya strategy should not be viewed simply as another attempt to mobilise votes for President William Ruto.
“Kindiki is not trying to outdo Gachagua. He is trying to change the institution through which Mt Kenya speaks,” he said.
Kasembeli argued that while former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua built much of his influence through political mobilisation, rallies, political networks and bargaining power, Kindiki is pursuing a different route by cultivating relationships with elders and regional cultural institutions.
“Kindiki is building around elders, councils, cultural legitimacy and the symbolism of the Mountain,” he said.
He further argued that the recent Kirigiti approach places the DP at the centre of an emerging contest over who can legitimately speak for Mt Kenya and who can provide the political link between the region and the national government.
Ndia MP George Kariuki and Juja MP George Koimburi early this week questioned whether the Kirigiti gathering had the mandate to speak for the entire region, illustrating that Kindiki’s new role is not automatically accepted by all political actors.
Kariuki said only one MP from the central region had been present at the meeting, questioning how the event could be portrayed as a broader Mt Kenya affair.
“A stadium is for football, not to look for ourselves. Opportunities are given by God. We don't want politics of optics; we want politics to talk with our people,” Kariuki said.
Kariuki dismissed the idea of using the Kirigiti event to install Kindiki as the region’s spokesman, saying political leadership should be based on engagement with residents and local leaders.
His position was echoed by Koimburi, who questioned the extent to which Mt Kenya West had been involved in the process that culminated in Kindiki’s endorsement.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, speaking on Monday, September 21, 2026, defended his installation as the spokesperson and representative of the Mt Kenya region, challenging critics to confront the elders who endorsed him rather than attack the decision from outside.
He said this during his tour of Tharaka Constituency in Tharaka-Nithi County, where he said he had been instructed by the elders to stop engaging those opposed to their decision and concentrate on uniting the region and pursuing development.
“If there is somebody with an issue, let him be taken to the elders,” Kindiki said, referring to the councils that participated in his installation at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County on Saturday, September 19, 2026.
“And if you feel you are very popular, I dare you to contradict what the elders have decided, I dare you,” he added.
Political analyst and Juja parliamentary aspirant Waruiru Waithaka has told the Star that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s growing engagement with Mt Kenya communities is part of a broader effort to rebuild the government’s political networks in the region ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Waithaka said Kindiki’s meetings with elders, community leaders and other influential groups are significant because they give the government an opportunity to repair political relationships and re-establish itself at the grassroots after months of political divisions in the region.
“Kindiki is rebuilding the bridge between the government and Mt Kenya. His engagement with elders and communities is creating new inroads for Ruto in a region where the government needs to reconnect with voters,” Waithaka said.
He argued that the Deputy President’s strategy goes beyond mobilising crowds, saying the repeated consultations across Mt Kenya are intended to restore political networks and create a more sustained relationship between the government and the region.
“Kindiki understands that you cannot rebuild political support in Mt Kenya from Nairobi. You have to go back to the people, listen to the elders, engage the communities and rebuild those relationships from the grassroots,” Waithaka said.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah recently urged Mt Kenya leaders to address concerns raised by communities in Meru, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi, warning that ignoring them could deepen divisions within the region.
Speaking during a consultative meeting in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga County, on Saturday, Ichung’wah called on leaders from Mt Kenya West to listen to concerns raised by their counterparts in Mt Kenya East and work towards resolving them.
“If there are people who feel aggrieved, let us listen to them and not dismiss them. Let us listen to what they are saying,” Ichung’wah said.
Ichung’wah said the Mt Kenya West community should not dismiss grievances raised by residents of Meru, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi, noting that the three communities remain part of the wider Mt Kenya family.
