Rigathi Gachagua’s DCP is facing an uncomfortable new headache in Mt Kenya, where Ndindi Nyoro’s People’s Party of Kenya (PPK) is quietly turning into an alternative political home for aspirants who had been expected to gravitate towards the former Deputy President’s party.
PPK is barely two months old, but its growing list of aspirants across the region is already forcing a rethink of the political arithmetic in Mt Kenya.
The party is attracting politicians who do not want to be locked into either President William Ruto’s UDA camp or Gachagua’s DCP.
Gachagua’s political calculation had been to assemble the region’s parliamentary and grassroots candidates under DCP and emerge from the 2027 election as the undisputed political broker of the mountain.
The numbers may still be far from proving that ambition, but PPK’s early reception has introduced an unwelcome variable. For DCP, the problem is that politicians are beginning to see a political life outside Gachagua’s camp.
The response from Gachagua’s allies has consequently become sharper.
Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wa has accused Nyoro of being a possible “spy” planted inside the opposition to gather information and report back to President Ruto.
DCP Secretary-General John Methu has dismissed PPK as another “wheelbarrow”, invoking the ruling UDA Party symbol.
Nyoro, who has remained one of Mt Kenya’s most influential young politicians, brings with him a different proposition compared to Rigathi Gachagua, who has been accused of being a dyed-in-the-wool tribalist.
Unlike Gachagua, who was impeached and is constitutionally barred from elective office, Ndindi Nyoro carries with him credibility and a performance track record where he has been consistently ranked as the best MP in Kenya.
