Mt Kenya Leaders Rally Behind Kindiki For 2027
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Njuki, Kindiki Push Mt Kenya Unity Ahead of 2027 Running Mate Battle

September 2026

Tharaka-Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki said Mt Kenya must not be divided over the Deputy President’s position, insisting the region should unite behind Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as President William Ruto’s running mate in the 2027 General Election. Njuki made the remarks at Cheera market in Chuka/Igambangombe Constituency, arguing that the Mountain has stayed politically united since independence.

He pointed out that the community had backed Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, all of them from Mt Kenya West, and said it was now time to rally around Kindiki, a son of Mt Kenya East. “Mt Kenya will not be split,” Njuki said, warning that efforts to pit the western and eastern halves of the region against each other would fail.

Njuki’s Unity Call

Njuki argued that Tharaka-Nithi and the wider Mt Kenya East had stayed too quiet while leaders elsewhere openly campaigned for the Deputy President’s seat. He urged residents of Tharaka-Nithi and Meru to take the lead in defending Kindiki, while also calling on Mt Kenya West and Kenyans nationally to back the Deputy President.

The Governor questioned why some politicians were pushing Ruto to replace Kindiki, saying the Deputy President should instead be judged on his record and contribution to government.

Kindiki’s Embu Rally Response

A day on, Kindiki delivered his own rebuttal at a much bigger gathering. He addressed roughly 20,000 grassroots leaders drawn from across the region at Nembure Stadium in Embu County, telling ODM that he intends to remain Ruto’s running mate when the President seeks a second term in 2027.

The Embu crowd went further than simply cheering him on. Leaders at the rally accused DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua of touring the country to undermine and humiliate Kindiki, and told him to leave the Deputy President alone. Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku and Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire led the demand that Gachagua show Kindiki respect, with Mbarire telling the crowd, “We have endorsed Kindiki as President Ruto’s running mate in 2027.”

Mt Kenya’s East-West Bargain

The Embu rally is the latest move in a wider campaign building across Mt Kenya East. Leaders from Meru, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi, with allies in Isiolo, are pressing their counterparts in Mt Kenya West to back Kindiki not just for 2027 but as a potential presidential candidate in 2032, arguing the East has supported western leaders for decades and now wants the favour returned.

The pitch amounts to a political ladder: back Ruto next year, keep Kindiki as Deputy President, then support his bid for the top job five years later. Whether Kiambu, Nyeri, Murang’a, Nyandarua and Kirinyaga actually go along with that plan is far from settled, since Gachagua remains a dominant figure in opposition politics across that half of the Mountain.

Gachagua’s own camp has been blunt about where it stands. In earlier remarks defending his push to unseat Kindiki, Gachagua argued that Ruto had picked the Deputy President to shield himself politically after Gachagua’s own impeachment, but suggested the arrangement had not worked, saying of Kindiki: “Kindiki has failed. But he is our son.” That mix of criticism and clan loyalty captures the awkward position Gachagua’s allies find themselves in when discussing a fellow Mt Kenya politician.

The doubts about Mt Kenya West’s mood are not just rhetorical. In July, a parliamentary by-election in Ol Kalou saw DCP’s Sammy Kamau beat UDA’s Samuel Muchina by a wide margin, a result many read as a sign the western half of the Mountain has drifted toward Gachagua rather than toward Ruto and his deputy.

That is the number Kindiki and his allies in Embu and Tharaka-Nithi will need to reverse if their unity message is to mean anything at the ballot box. For now, the running mate question remains open, and how Mt Kenya West responds to the East’s appeal may say more about 2027 than any rally speech.

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