By Anderson Ojwang
Mbeere North constituency offers Kenya a taste and a glimpse of the battle of the deputies and a possible battle for the vote-rich Mt Kenya region in the 2027 general elections.
For five years, the two senior leaders from Mt Kenya have been sparring and finally, Mbeere North has provided the ring for the leaders to sort out their age-long difference.
In what was billed as the first contest between the two leaders, it ended prematurely when the referee William Ruto called off the match and instead annulled the initial results.
Ruto, then Deputy President and UDA presidential candidate for the 2022 presidential election, had invited then Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua and Tharaka Nithi Senator Prof Abraham Kindiki Kithure to a duel for his deputy.
In this contest, a stalemate that lasted over 17 hours was characterised by failed consensus-building, with the opinion polls that favoured Kindiki.
Ruto and his team resorted to opinion polls conducted internally to unlock the stalemate. The first poll, conducted internally by a strategy and research team headed by Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, involved 10,000 respondents drawn from 10 Mt Kenya counties. In that poll, Kindiki trounced Gachagua, with Governor Anne Waiguru coming in third.
In the second survey, conducted nationwide in the 47 counties, and involving 25,000 respondents, Kindiki yet again emerged top, with Waiguru and Gachagua second and third respectively.
The final vote involved the Central Kenya UDA MPs, who were called in for a vote. Senator Kindiki once again trounced Gachagua.
Out of the 31 Mt Kenya UDA MPs present, 22 voted in favour of Kindiki, 5 voted for Gachagua, two backed Waiguru, while Muturi obtained one vote, with one rejected vote.
The referee was left with no alternative but to annul the results and instead awarded the mantle to Gachagua, who was later impeached by Parliament and Senate.
And now the Mbeere North by-election is the battleground. On one corner of the ring is Gachagua, the second Deputy President, representing the United Opposition, and the self-declared leader of Mt Kenya.
On the other side of the ring is the successor, the soft-spoken Kindiki, the third and the sitting Deputy President and the captain of the UDA team in the by-election.
And Kenya, for the first time, is witnessing the battle of deputies — bitter rivals with no love lost between them — who have a date with the IEBC.
Over the weekend, Rigathi stormed Mbeere North in a military-fashioned strategy of scorched earth policy, a door-to-door campaign and visiting every home.
In his morning walks, Gachagua is deploying the strategy of scorched earth policy, which is often handy in disabling the enemy and gaining advantage over opponents.
It is a military strategy of destroying or devastating anything of value in a territory before retreating to deny its use to an advancing enemy.
In business, the term, the strategy, is also used in business to describe actions taken to make a company unattractive to a potential hostile takeover, though this can be self-damaging.
But the Professor is also not taking Gachagua’s tactic lying low and he is also employing the same strategy, making the battle fierce and stormy.
Kindiki, while on a campaign trail for UDA candidate Leonard Wamuthende, enjoys moments taking tea with the residents, catching up and sharing experience as he woos them to vote for the UDA candidate.
In his X handle, Kindiki wrote “Karambari, Mbeere North Constituency. The people of Mbeere North constituency want unity, development and progress, not chaos, empty political rhetoric and disrespect.
Interacted with residents of Karambari, updated them on status of implementation of ongoing development projects in the constituency and urged them to vote Leo Wamuthende on November 27th.”
Gachagua has pitched tent in Mbeere in a revenge battle and is supporting the DP candidate Newton Karish.
He wrote in his X handle “The villagers in Mbeere North are awake and hardworking. They are hardworking and are looking forward to the 27th November vote for Newton Karish. I am with the villagers every step of the way, one by one, home by home, village by village in a motif to liberate one nation, Kenya.
I had interactive experience in my morning walk on a vote drive for my favourite candidate Newton Karish who is a people-centred candidate. Change is in Mbeere North.”
Interestingly, the two candidates are former colleagues at the County Assembly of Embu and have been dominant figures in their respective wards.
Karish is a respected Benga artist in the community whose music is loved by the residents and is credited for nurturing the talent of several upcoming artists from the region.
Kindiki is not leaving anything to chance and he must deny Gachagua the last laugh to avoid undermining President Ruto’s prominence in the region in the 2027 elections.
While Gachagua must prove himself as the leader of the mountain and avenge the initial humiliation by the Professor.
Whichever way the election goes, it will not be without premium tears and major political setbacks ahead of the 2027 general elections.
