![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4d9c8a1e-5885-4014-87bc-dd0d62e00cfb.webp\")
A collage of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and his predecessor Kithure Kindiki.\/FILE<\/p>\n<\/p>\nA collage of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and his predecessor Kithure Kindiki.\/FILE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his successor Kithure Kindiki
\nhave traded barbs over the unity of Mt Kenya, with Gachagua accusing the Deputy
\nPresident of allowing himself to be used to divide the region.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a tour of Kiambu County, Gachagua said Kindiki could not
\nclaim to be his brother while supporting efforts to split Mt Kenya into eastern
\nand western political blocs, warning that such a move would weaken the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot be my brother when you are dividing the mountain. You cannot be
\nmy brother when you are joining others to send poisonous alcohol to kill my
\npeople. If you want to be my brother, stop dividing the mountain and stop
\nhurting Kikuyu people with illicit alcohol,\u201d Gachagua said.<\/p>\n
Gachagua’s remarks came days after Kindiki visited Murang\u2019a County, where he
\ncalled for unity among Mt Kenya communities. However, Kindiki later posted a
\ncryptic message on Facebook saying, “The fathers of the land, the landlords,
\nhave spoken. East first, West next, then Kenya will speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former deputy president interpreted the developments as part of a wider
\nattempt to weaken Mt Kenya’s political unity, insisting that dividing the
\nmountain was as difficult as cutting down a Mugumo tree with a razor blade.<\/p>\n
Gachagua also accused the Deputy President of failing to protect Central
\nKenya from illicit alcohol.<\/p>\n
He claimed young people were dying from poisonous alcohol, saying families
\nin the region were burying young people every week because of the illicit
\nbrews. He linked the problem to what he described as failures by the government
\nto deal with the crisis.<\/p>\n
But Kindiki responded to Gachagua through social media, dismissing the
\nformer deputy president’s attacks and accusing him of having an unimpressive
\nrecord in public service and leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking about my voice is the only contribution your emptiness and
\nincompetence can make in matters of politics, policy and leadership,\u201d Kindiki
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Deputy President also rejected Gachagua’s account of their time in
\ngovernment, saying that while he served as Interior Cabinet Secretary, his
\nfocus was on fighting banditry, terrorism and crime rather than political
\nmobilisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was focused on protecting Kenya from bandits, terrorists and criminals as
\nyou were building hotels, acquiring land and inciting people against the same
\ngovernment that you were serving as Deputy President,\u201d Kindiki said.<\/p>\n
Kindiki accused Gachagua of attempting to undermine the government they
\nhelped form after falling out with Ruto. He said he had advised the former
\ndeputy president to repair his relationship with the President and other
\nleaders but was ignored.<\/p>\n
He said he had instead chosen to remain in government and pursue the
\ninterests that had motivated their election campaign, including roads, markets,
\nelectricity and better returns for coffee and dairy farmers.<\/p>\n
The clash comes amid a growing campaign over the political future of Mt
\nKenya. The proposed division centres on Mt Kenya East\u2014Meru, Embu and Tharaka
\nNithi\u2014and Mt Kenya West, comprising Kiambu, Murang\u2019a, Nyeri and Kirinyaga.<\/p>\n
Leaders from the Eastern part of the region have been increasingly calling
\nfor the splitting of the mountain, claiming that the West has historically dominated
\nthe region’s political leadership, while the East has often been expected to
\nprovide votes without receiving a proportionate share of power.<\/p>\n
Gachagua and his allies maintain that splitting the mountain would diminish
\nits bargaining power.<\/p>\n
The dispute has placed Kindiki, who comes from Tharaka Nithi, at the centre
\nof the debate, even as he has publicly called for unity among Mt Kenya
\ncommunities.<\/p>\n
Gachagua, meanwhile, has intensified his mobilisation through his party as
\nthe united opposition seeks to expand its support in Central Kenya and attract
\nleaders from the Kenya Kwanza camp.<\/p>\n
With rival camps seeking to shape the region’s political direction, the
\nGachagua-Kindiki exchange is likely to deepen the contest over whether Mt Kenya
\nremains united or enters the next election divided along eastern and western
\nlines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A collage of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and his predecessor Kithure Kindiki.\/FILE Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[31],"tags":[5811,80,351,9820,6058,352,98,100,36736,353,101,350,99],"class_list":["post-381288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya","tag-gachagua","tag-kenya","tag-kenya-news","tag-kindiki","tag-mt-kenya","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\/117107279094252472","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381288","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=381288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}