![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/a7febfb1-345f-4467-82c0-a2ab3be355b0.webp\")
John Gathungu, an elder, addressing journalists during a meeting in Kirinyaga on August 17, 2026\/ ALICE WAITHERA<\/p>\n<\/p>\nJohn Gathungu, an elder, addressing journalists during a meeting in Kirinyaga on August 17, 2026\/ ALICE WAITHERA<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A section of Kikuyu elders from
\nKirinyaga County has rejected attempts to create separate Mt Kenya East and Mt
\nKenya West political blocs, warning that the move could divide the region for
\nindividual political gain.<\/p>\n
The elders, drawn from the Kiama Kia
\nMa outfit, also distanced themselves from a meeting held in Embu last week by
\nelders from the Njuri Ncheke Supreme Council, Nyaangi Ndiriri, Kiama Kia
\nMuembu, Ngome and Mwea Council of Elders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very angry that there are
\nleaders who aren\u2019t even from Kirinyaga making absurd proclamations that parts
\nof Kirinyaga should be and will be part of Mt Kenya East,\u201d Chief Elder Muriithi
\nWarutere said.<\/p>\n
The Embu meeting brought together
\nelders from Meru, Embu, Tharaka-Nithi, Kirinyaga and Isiolo, who declared
\nthemselves the Mt Kenya East Councils of Elders and endorsed Deputy President
\nKithure Kindiki as President William Ruto\u2019s running mate in the 2027 General
\nElection. They also backed his future presidential ambitions. <\/p>\n
In their joint resolution, the
\nelders said Mt Kenya East had for decades supported leaders from Mt Kenya West
\nand that the time had come for the western side to reciprocate by backing
\nKindiki. <\/p>\n
They also mandated their councils to
\nengage Mt Kenya West elders, including Kiama Kia Ma, in efforts to establish a
\ncommon political position. <\/p>\n
But the Kirinyaga elders said the
\nEmbu declaration could not be used to determine the political identity or
\ndirection of their county without consulting residents.<\/p>\n
Warutere said Kirinyaga had elected
\nleaders mandated to represent its people and warned against turning the county
\nand the wider Mt Kenya region into political instruments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe as elders and the people of
\nKirinyaga stand firm in denying this. We refuse to be included in someone who
\nis seeking a political lifeline using us. We are part of one region, Mt Kenya,
\nand we speak in one voice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The elders also rejected attempts to
\nclassify areas such as Mwea and Gichugu as part of a separate Mt Kenya East
\npolitical bloc, insisting that Kirinyaga remained part of the wider Mt Kenya
\nregion.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/de8561f8-17cc-4c2b-b21b-1fb81cc1e967.webp\")
Members of Kiama Kia Ma council of elders during a meeting in Kirinyaga county on August 17, 2026\/ ALICE WAITHERA<\/p>\n
John Gathungu, another elder, said
\npolitical pronouncements could not redefine the county\u2019s identity or determine
\nwho should speak for its residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to tell those people trying
\nto classify us as Mt Kenya East that Kirinyaga starts from River Sagana to
\nRiver Rupingazi. They have no authority to speak on our behalf on matters of politics,\u201d Gathungu said.<\/p>\n
He said Kirinyaga had elected leaders
\nfrom the governor to MPs and MCAs who had the mandate to represent residents,
\nadding that political decisions affecting the county should not be made by
\nindividuals without the people\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n
Gathungu said the proposed division
\nalso went against the historical ties that brought the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru
\ncommunities together under GEMA.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn matters of Mt. Kenya East and West,
\nwe as elders want to remind them that our ancestors brought Gikuyu, Embu and
\nMeru together to form GEMA, and that is what we the people from Mt Kenya, recognise. We are one people, and we won\u2019t be divided for some people to gain
\npolitically and individually,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Embu elders had, however, framed
\ntheir position as an effort to strengthen Mt Kenya East\u2019s political bargaining
\npower while still calling for dialogue with Mt Kenya West.<\/p>\n
Their resolution also endorsed
\nRuto\u2019s re-election and placed Kindiki at the centre of their proposed political
\nengagement with the wider region.<\/p>\n
The Kirinyaga elders said their
\nopposition was not directed at their neighbours in Embu and Mbeere, with whom
\nthey said they maintained cordial relations, but at attempts to impose a
\npolitical identity on Kirinyaga without the consent of its residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love our neighbours from Embu
\nand Mbeere, but we are Kirinyaga and we are all one people and won\u2019t accept to
\nbe divided,\u201d Warutere said.<\/p>\n
Waweru Mugo, an elder from Mwea,
\nsaid the proposed political realignment was being driven by political interests
\nrather than the needs of ordinary residents.<\/p>\n
He urged leaders to stop using
\nKirinyaga and the wider Mt Kenya region as political pawns, saying residents
\nshould be allowed to determine their own political direction ahead of the 2027
\nGeneral Election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Gathungu, an elder, addressing journalists during a meeting in Kirinyaga on August 17, 2026\/ ALICE WAITHERA A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[31],"tags":[183448,80,351,183449,9619,6058,156334,179463,352,98,100,36736,353,101,350,99],"class_list":["post-383066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya","tag-council-of-elders","tag-kenya","tag-kenya-news","tag-kiama-kia-ma","tag-kirinyaga","tag-mt-kenya","tag-mt-kenya-east","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\/117113743722907463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383066","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=383066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}