By TWV Political Desk
President William Ruto and his new Deputy, Prof Kithure Kindiki, yesterday celebrated what they branded a “resounding triumph in the Mbeere North by-election. The truth, however, is far less glorious: after unleashing the full might of state machinery, open voter bribery, hired thugs and a campaign of fear, the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) limped across the finish line with a humiliating margin of just 494 votes.
Official results declared at dawn on Friday gave UDA’s Leo Wamuthende 15,802 votes against 15,308 polled by the Democratic Party (DP) candidate backed by impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. In any mature democracy, a 494-vote gap after such naked deployment of state power would be greeted with embarrassment, not chest-thumping.
Yet there was the President, barely 24 hours later, crowing that the result proved Kenyans had rejected “ethnic hate” and “one-term politics”. Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah went further, sneering that Gachagua and his allies “hawana agenda, hawana mpango, hawana sera”. Senator Aaron Cheruiyot chimed in to claim the country had buried tribal narratives once and for all.
The Weekly Vision can reveal that the reality on the ground was starkly different. Eyewitnesses in Kiritiri, Siakago and Ishiara polling stations described scenes of open vote-buying, with UDA agents dishing out cash handouts of between KSh 500 and KSh 2,000 in full view of helpless police officers.
In several opposition strongholds, youth reported being offered KSh 3,000 to surrender their national IDs days before polling, a classic voter-suppression tactic. Armed gangs allegedly ferried from neighbouring counties were reportedly used to harass Gachagua supporters and chase away polling agents. Turnout in areas considered pro-Gachagua plunged to below 30 per cent, with many voters saying they stayed home out of fear of post-election reprisals.
Even seasoned analysts sympathetic to State House privately admit the margin exposes fragility rather than strength. “If this is what it takes, cash, chaos and the entire government camped in one constituency, to beat Gachagua’s candidate by less than 500 votes, then 2027 will be a massacre without the advantage of incumbency,” one told The Weekly Vision on condition of anonymity.
Perhaps the most telling indictment came from Saboti MP Caleb Amisi, who posted on X: “Winning an MP seat by 300 votes (sic) after importing MPs, Governors, cash and goons is nothing to celebrate. In 2027 there will be no government machinery. You will be on your own.”
Gachagua himself has remained defiant. In a late-night radio interview on Kameme FM, the former Deputy President declared, “They saw they were losing by lunchtime and resorted to stealing the election in broad daylight. But the message is clear, even with all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, they could not stop the people’s will by more than 494 votes.”
As the dust settles on Mbeere North, one fact is undeniable: the Mt Kenya kingmaker crown that Rigathi Gachagua lost in State House has not yet been securely placed on Prof Kindiki’s head. If anything, this by-election, bought at the cost of millions of taxpayers’ shillings and the last remnants of electoral dignity, has shown that the “Mountain” remains fiercely contested ground.
For William Ruto, the narrow escape serves as a chilling early warning: the 2027 journey has just begun, and the ghosts of the 2024 impeachment drama are very much alive and voting.
