By The Weekly Vision Team
The political supremacy battle between ex-Mungiki leader Maina Njenga and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua took a dramatic turn on the eve of the new year after youths allied to Mr Njenga were arrested over an unauthorised rally. Political analysts now say that Mr Njenga’s strategy was a simple trap for the DP, who fell into the trap after he mobilised state machinery to ensure the alleged mega rally did not happen in Nyeri.
The whole scenario exposed the DP as being against young Kikuyu men, and the arrest of perceived allies or supporters of Maina has not only worked against him but the Kenya Kwanza administration at large
It has now been discovered that Maina, who had received intelligence that he would be arrested if he dared set foot in Nyeri, cancelled the rally secretly without the state machinery or even Mr Gachagua getting wind of it. Political pundits argue that Maina played a mind game with the DP; ‘he just wanted to expose the misuse of state machinery by the DP’, sources told The Weekly Vision. At the end of the day, Maina scored big against the DP, who had vowed to finish Mr Njenga politically in Nyeri.
The whole scenario exposed the DP as being against young Kikuyu men, and the arrest of perceived allies or supporters of Maina has not only worked against him but the Kenya Kwanza administration at large. Following the aborted meeting, analysts now say that President William Ruto’s political ratings in the Mountain region have again dropped as the narrative that his administration is targeting not only the Kikuyu youths but Mount Kenya people, in general, is quickly gaining momentum.
To a lesser extent, President Ruto must be smiling as Maina engages his deputy in a political supremacy battle. To Ruto and his allies, Maina is helping them weaken Gachagua’s chances of once again being his running mate in 2027; he will have a strong reason to drop Gachagua.
Politically speaking, any political movement within the mountain region opposing the DP is to the advantage of Ruto, who, according to sources, is looking for every reason to drop Gachagua for Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi in 2027. It is an open secret that Gachagua, without solid backing from the mountain, is politically reduced to a political non-starter who can only deliver votes from his backyard in the Mathira constituency. Mr. Gachagua has deeply fallen into Maina’s trap, and if he dared continue battling with Maina and his perceived Mungiki supporters, then he would continue losing grip of the mountain.
Analysts say Maina Njeng’s political strategy can only be ignored by politicians who cannot read between the lines. His first strategy was to call for Kikuyu unity. He called on retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP Gachagua to unite for the sake of the people of Mount Kenya. As things stand now, Njenga has exposed the DP as anti-Kikuyu, as tens of Kikuyu youths are languishing in police cells following their arrests on the eve of the new year.
