Barely a few days after President William Ruto showered him with compliments of being the best principal assistant, Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki finds himself navigating a complex and precarious political landscape in Mount Kenya.

The Deputy President who has in the recent past concentrated his efforts on consolidating the region, is facing internal divisions, historical loyalties, and regional dynamics that pose significant challenges to his leadership.

Observers now say Kindiki, who ascended to the office with a promise to chart his own path, is already walking dangerously close to the same political bluff that ended up consuming his predecessor, Rigathi Gachagua.

Kindiki’s ascent to the deputy presidency followed the impeachment of his predecessor, who was removed from office in October on charges, including incitement of ethnic divisions and corruption.

Despite his ouster, Gachagua has continued to wield considerable influence in Mt Kenya and has even launched a new political party aimed at consolidating his support base ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Last week, President William Ruto, while speaking at Meru National Park during a wildlife launch, boasted of a cordial relationship with his deputy, whom he termed as supportive of the government agenda.

Heavy burden to carry

“Professor knows that he is not for the Meru people alone, he is for every Kenyan,” Ruto told the crowd, seemingly rebuking his first deputy, Gachagua.

Ruto touted Kindiki as the best deputy president, pitting him to be calm, composed, supportive, understanding and a better performer than Gachagua.

“I’m very proud to have a deputy who understands the government and what we are doing in infrastructure, education and agriculture and is supportive of the ministers and me to make sure Kenya is going forward,” Ruto said.

But observers and critics are now accusing Kindiki of walking the same political path that Gachagua walked, leading to his downfall.

According to Prof Gitile Naituli, a political analyst and senior lecturer at Multimedia University, Kindiki was handed a burden that is beyond him to deliver.

“The main purpose of his appointment was for him to deliver the Mt Kenya vote, which is beyond him and the reason he is trying to use all necessary tricks to make himself relevant in the region,” Prof Naituli says.

He says the DP has failed to gain positive reception in the region due to the cultural maxim among the majority of the communities within Mt Kenya that “a man whose sword is used to kill his own brother so that he inherits the wife is never respected.”

“He is yet to be accepted within the community because they view him as a traitor who was used by the system to bring Gachagua down,” Naituli says.

Only this week, Kindiki was forced to make quick amends with Embu governor Cecily Mbarire who had accused certain leaders of undermining her authority, highlighting the growing internal tensions within President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ruling party.

Speaking during Madaraka Day celebrations at Makima Primary School, Mbarire vowed not to stand by while political decisions are made behind her back.

She claimed that secret night meetings are being held in Embu to determine the county’s political direction—excluding elected leaders, including herself.

“If there is someone who has been targeted for supporting this government, it is me,” Mbarire said, visibly agitated.  

“But now I see people scheming against me—people I’ve always defended. These Nairobi officers are meeting at night in Embu to plan politics without consulting us. They act like they understand Embu better than we do. I know this county’s political landscape,” she added.

Crisis meeting

Her comments came just days after Deputy President Kindiki paid a low-profile but politically charged visit to Embu to address rising insecurity—without involving the county’s top leadership.

Unlike previous visits, Mbarire was notably absent, with sources close to her claiming she was unaware of Kindiki’s trip. Several Embu county officials, speaking anonymously, also said they were not informed.

This visit reignited past tensions between Kindiki and Mbarire. The Deputy President had previously criticised Mbarire for failing to manage hecklers during President Ruto’s visit to Embu.

Sources told the PD Wikendi that after President Ruto’s intervention, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, Kindiki convened a crisis meeting with MPs from Embu in a bid to stem the fallout, before meeting Mbarire on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, together with County Assembly Majority Leader Peter Muriithi at his Karen residence in Nairobi.

Later, Kindiki posted on his social media pages indicating that they had discussed the “status of national government projects in the area and interventions to protect key agricultural value chains including tea, coffee, macadamia and cathus edulis (Muguuka).”

Impending by-election

Sources say Kindiki and Mbarire have fallen out over the impending by-election in Mbeere North to replace Geoffrey Ruku, who has since been appointed Public Service and Human Capital Development Cabinet Secretary, with each of them touting for different candidates.

Only three weeks ago, Kindiki had publicly reprimanded Ruku during a meeting with over 5,000 elders from Embu for calling on the government to tarmac roads in the region.

Ruku had appealed to the Deputy President to prioritise infrastructure improvements in Siakago on behalf of the elders, a move that appeared to irk the DP.

“You are now part of the Cabinet,” Kindiki told Ruku in a rebuke akin to Gachagua’s during his heydays.  

“You should not be inciting the public with complaints. Instead, you should be providing solutions within the Cabinet, which is the top decision-making organ of government.”

In his Meru home turf, Kindiki seems to be facing stiff challenges from former governors Peter Munya and Kawira Mwangaza and former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi who have positioned themselves as Gachagua’s pointmen.

The three have been traversing the Ameru region, threatening Kindiki’s grip on his backyard.

And like Gachagua who during his time concentrated his efforts on the supremacy battle for Mt Kenya with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kindiki’s preoccupation has been his war with his predecessor.

On Wednesday, Kindiki was heckled by a crowd that chanted “one term” slogans across the fence in Nyeri during his visit, forcing the police to beef up security to enable his public rally to continue.

More police officers were deployed to take control, even as Kindiki, in a verbal attack seemingly directed at Gachagua, accused him of misleading the region.

Critics also accuse Kindiki of confining his political activities in Mt Kenya like Gachagua. Within the month of May, Kindiki made an extraordinary 36 visits to Mt Kenya, the same political bloc that both elevated and ultimately destroyed Gachagua.

Within the same period, he only visited areas outside Mt Kenya eight times, mirroring Gachagua’s strategy to build a regional power base. Out of the 36 visits to Mt Kenya, eight were in Kiambu alone.

During his tours dubbed “economic empowerment program, Kindiki has been accused by his critics of allegedly enticing residents with Ksh250, 2kg of dry beans and a 2kg packet of maize flour to attend his public meetings.

Through the economic empowerment program, Kindiki has dished out more than Ksh100 million to the residents in the region within two months.

“Kindiki and his cronies have been going around dishing out cash to members of the public in a bid to woo them back to the government. Unfortunately, our people have already decided to move on and will not be swayed,” Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara told PD Wikendi.  

Prof Naituli also agrees with Ms Kihara, stating that Central Kenya has already bolted out of President Ruto’s stable as they did with former President Uhuru.

“He can use huge amounts of money to buy their loyalty, but he will not succeed. It is just too late,” Prof Naituli said.

Impending by-election

The President’s principal assistant is also said to have marshalled the support of former loyalists of Gachagua, the majority of whom have lost grassroots support since the Gen Z’s protests and have not even been visiting their constituencies for fear of being heckled.

Apparently, some of Kindiki’s diehard loyalists include National Assembly Majority Leader and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah, Alice Ng’anga (Thika), Faith Wairimu Gitau (Nyandarua), Anne Wanjiku Wamuratha (Kiambu), John Njuguna Kawanjiku (Kiambaa), Mary Wamaua (Maragua), Wahome Wamatinga (Nyeri) and Eric Wamumbi (Maathira).

“It is unfortunate that the Deputy President has surrounded himself with political lightweights, people who have lost considerable ground in their own constituencies, giving credence to the joke that Kindiki is on a mission to popularise them in their own areas,” Prof Naituli added.

Take, for example, Ichung’wah, who was heckled in his own Kiambu region during President Ruto’s recent tour of Central Kenya.