![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7bbe960f-85cc-408d-9da4-7ef89ea99a16.webp\")
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku\/HANDOUT<\/p>\nPublic Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku\/HANDOUT<\/p>\n
Public Service Cabinet
\nSecretary Geoffrey Ruku has intensified his call for Mt Kenya East to chart its
\nown political and development path.<\/p>\n
He said Mt Kenya East should
\nnot fear separating from Mt Kenya West if doing so would guarantee a fairer
\nshare of national resources.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Thagicu, Mbeere North, Wednesday,
\nRuku said Mt Kenya West and Mt Kenya East should go separate ways if such an
\narrangement would address what he described as longstanding disparities in
\ndevelopment and resource allocation.<\/p>\n
The Cabinet Secretary said
\npolitical unity should not come at the expense of development, arguing that the
\ninterests of residents should take priority over maintaining a united political
\nbloc.<\/p>\n
He said Mt Kenya East should
\nbe willing to pursue a separate political path if doing so would improve its
\nchances of securing development projects and greater representation in
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf splitting the mountain
\nwill get Mt Kenya East electricity, then let it be so. If splitting the mountain will see
\nMt Kenya East get tarmac roads, let it be so,\u201d Ruku stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruku further argued that the
\nregion should consider going separate ways if such a move would improve
\nPresident William Ruto’s chances of securing re-election in the 2027 General
\nElection.<\/p>\n
He also said a split could be
\njustified if it enhanced the prospects of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki
\nsucceeding Ruto as President after the latter completes his second term.<\/p>\n
His remarks are likely to
\nreignite debate over the political identity of the Mt Kenya region, which has
\ntraditionally been viewed as a major voting bloc with significant influence in
\nnational elections.<\/p>\n
Ruku has in recent months
\nstepped up his advocacy for a distinct political identity for Mt Kenya East,
\ncomprising Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties.<\/p>\n
He has argued that the
\neastern bloc has historically not received a fair share of national development
\ncompared with Mt Kenya West and that residents should rethink their political
\nstrategy to secure greater benefits from the national government.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure has been at
\nthe centre of Ruku’s argument, with the CS repeatedly citing roads, electricity
\nand other development projects as areas where he believes Mt Kenya East
\ncontinues to face disparities.<\/p>\n
He has also urged residents
\nof the region to support Ruto’s administration while backing Kindiki as a
\npotential future presidential contender.<\/p>\n
Former presidential adviser
\nMoses Kuria has cautioned Ruku against what he described as efforts to split Mt
\nKenya.<\/p>\n
Kuria acknowledged the
\nconcerns raised by the CS but argued that the region would be better placed to
\nnegotiate for its interests if it remained politically united.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku\/HANDOUT Public Service Cabinet
Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has intensified his call for Mt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[31],"tags":[1470,179462,80,351,156334,174710,179463,352,98,100,36736,353,101,350,99],"class_list":["post-375984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya","tag-2027-elections","tag-development-disparities","tag-kenya","tag-kenya-news","tag-mt-kenya-east","tag-mt-kenya-voting-bloc","tag-mt-kenya-west","tag-star","tag-star-news","tag-star-news-kenya","tag-star-newspaper","tag-star-newspaper-kenya","tag-the-star","tag-the-star-kenya","tag-the-star-newspaper"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117087099625301925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}