Wamuzi News Ke
An influential group of leaders from the Mt. Kenya East region has made public their intention to detach themselves from the traditional “Mt. Kenya basket” and seek independent political identity and influence, thereby cutting themselves off sharply from the political stories related to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Geoffrey Ruku, the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development, and Special Programs, gave views that could alter the region’s political scenario with regard to the 2027 general elections during a church service attended by many in Kangaru, Embu County, on Sunday.
Ruku claimed that Mt. Kenya East has remained a periphery region in the larger Mt. Kenya political coalition throughout the years and that this coalition has primarily safeguarded the interests of South Central Kenya. Ruku went on to cast the political edifice along with Gachagua’s support as the mastermind behind the dirty tricks designed at making Mt. Kenya East see negatives in President Ruto—a tale he slammed as the very opposite of the everyday needs of the eastern counties: “We will divide the mountain if we must.
Mt. Kenya East will stand alone. The East will have its own title deed,” Ruku proclaimed while depicting the fragmentation as a question of political rule and fair representation. The Cabinet Secretary’s critique was completely clear, branding Gachagua as a “lord of division” whose remaining political powers are even more the interests of a region that is now able to express its opinion.
He also questioned the legitimacy of Gachagua’s position in the regional political arena and claimed that the former deputy president’s power has been exaggerated and does not really represent the Mt Kenya East voters’ dreams. Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire joined Ruku’s choir, saying that the demand for autonomy is not just talk but a situation that is politically necessary.
Mbarire stated definitely that Mt. Kenya East will never be persuaded to side with the politics that get no advantage for the people. In this way, the governor’s words highlighted the attitude of some county authorities that the region’s needs have been neglected in favor of wider political stories that have completely lost touch with local priorities.
The words from Ruku and Mbarire are not mere political posturing; in fact, they point to an inevitable realignment in one of Kenya’s most crucial voting blocs. The Mt. Kenya region’s solidified voting power has been a major source of bargaining in the national politics for the last few decades.
If a formal or de facto division occurs with separate blocs of Mt. Kenya East and Mt. Kenya Central, the region’s combined bargaining power may be further weakened, and the coalition technology may undergo changes in the run-up to the next election. The analysts reveal a condition of discontent among the people with the ‘Mt. Kenya basket’ that is, in fact, a signal of a major political change in which regional aspects and concerns are being redefined according to the national power struggles.
The emergence of the Mt. Kenya East leaders’ self-declaration also suggests that there are indeed fractures within the region that are worsened by public fall-outs between political figures who were once together and were allies with different kings for the 2027 elections.
At this point, there is no official process to divide the Mt. Kenya vote legally or to set up different regional blocs, yet the Mt. Kenya East leaders’ talk is indicating the possibility of large constitutional and political controversies. The national party leaders and power brokers will have to deal with the prospect that the Mt. Kenya voting bloc, which was once a united force, will no longer be a single entity in the coming election cycle.
