Mutahi Kahiga: if Ruto delivers on his promises to Nyeri people, I will say ‘Tutam’
By Mabonga Makhanu, January 17, 2026Nyeri County Governor Mutahi Kahiga has told President William Ruto that if he delivers on what he promised the people of his county, he will chant Tutam.
While speaking during the Nyeri Grassroots Leaders Forum held at Sagana State Lounge on Saturday, January 17, 2025, where thousands of UDA supporters from across Nyeri County had converged for a party meeting, he unequivocally stated that he was elected as governor on the UDA ticket and will continue being a member of the ‘Wheelbarrow’ party.
He went on to also announce that the president he recognises is President William Ruto, and nobody else.
Kahiga differed with his party in 2024 after the impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and has always proclaimed his allegiance to the opposition, spelling doom for the current administration and saying it cannot survive past 2027.
went ahead to tell UDA leaders within Nyeri County that he is firmly behind them and will support them going forward, urging them to keep guard over the UDA government that they tirelessly campaigned for in 2022.
The governor, who recently ditched Gachagua’s camp, further told the president to his face that if he completes the projects he had initiated in Nyeri County, he will join the Tutam movement, a movement strongly committed to William Ruto’s re-election.
“Yale mambo yamebaki Nyeri; ukikamilisha, mimi nitasema Tutam,” Kahiga said.
His UDA membership
This comes days after joining President William Ruto during a church service in Nyeri, where he declared his allegiance to President William Ruto, declaring that he is still an ardent member of the UDA party.
The governor further revealed that the president had recently asked him which party he belongs to, noting that the last time the president checked, he was a member of the UDA party. He confirmed that he is still in the wheelbarrow party, fully paid up, and an active subscriber to the party.
“Tuliongea na wewe juzi na ukaniambia the last time you checked the records, nilikuwa member ya UDA fully paid up, si ni kweli? Sasa nashangaa watu wakiongea mambo mengi sijui nini; I am still a member of UDA,” he said.