How John Methu has earned Gachagua’s trust
By David Nthua, July 12, 2026Nyandarua Senator John Methu is hated and loved in equal measure.
To his critics, he is combative, noisy and deeply attached to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
To his supporters, he is the rare Mt Kenya politician who remained standing when loyalty became politically expensive.
Methu’s relationship with Gachagua did not begin after the former deputy president lost power.
It developed within the United Democratic Alliance, where both men helped build the political movement that delivered President William Ruto’s 2022 victory.
However, Methu was not handed his political career by Gachagua.
He entered the 2022 Nyandarua Senate race with his own grassroots network.
At 31, he became the youngest elected senator after winning the seat on his second attempt.
Before entering Parliament, he had studied political science at the University of Nairobi and helped strengthen UDA structures across Nyandarua.
That independent political base is important. Gachagua did not pick a political lightweight looking for relevance.
He found an elected senator with a countywide mandate, grassroots organisers and direct access to Nyandarua voters.
Loyalty under pressure
The real test came after relations between Ruto and Gachagua collapsed.
Gachagua was impeached by the National Assembly in October 2024 before the Senate upheld five of the 11 charges presented against him.
He denied the accusations and described the process as politically driven.
His removal forced Mt Kenya politicians to choose between remaining close to the government and associating themselves with a leader who had been pushed out of power.
Some recalibrated their positions. Others kept quiet. Methu increasingly identified himself with Gachagua’s political direction.
That loyalty has become more visible during the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, where Methu has emerged as one of the most vocal elected leaders supporting DCP’s political campaign in Nyandarua.
He has defended politicians associated with Gachagua’s camp, backed the argument that Ol Kalou voters should be allowed to determine their next MP without outside interference, and positioned himself at the centre of DCP’s county mobilisation.
For Gachagua, that makes Methu more than an ordinary political supporter. He is becoming the former deputy president’s Nyandarua anchor.
The SG signal
Rigathi Gachagua-led DCP has recently gone further by “crowning” Methu as DCP secretary-general, a title carrying significant political meaning even as a publicly accessible formal appointment notice remains unavailable.
A party secretary-general is not merely a ceremonial official. The office controls daily party operations, communication, grassroots coordination, candidate management and implementation of the party leader’s political strategy.
It is not a position normally handed to someone the party leader barely knows or cannot trust.
For a leader attempting to build a national organisation while confronting defections, internal competition and shifting loyalties, the secretary-general must be politically reliable.
The person must defend the party during difficult moments, maintain structures and communicate the leader’s position without hesitation.
That is where Methu appears to have earned Gachagua’s confidence.
His loyalty was not demonstrated when Gachagua occupied the Deputy President’s office and controlled government influence. It became visible after the office, security, government machinery and political privileges were gone.
In politics, many people remain loyal to power. Far fewer remain loyal to a politician after power disappears.
Methu’s growing prominence within DCP is therefore not accidental. It is the reward for choosing a side and remaining there while sections of Murima’s political class continued calculating where the wind was blowing.
Whether that loyalty eventually delivers DCP control of Nyandarua remains a matter for voters.
But within Gachagua’s emerging political structure, Methu has already secured something valuable: the party leader’s trust.