Of all the prominent Mt Kenya politicians, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has found himself adrift since the impeachment of Mr Rigathi Gachagua as Deputy President in October 2024.
Mr Nyoro’s political star rose after President William Ruto was sworn in on September 13, 2022, with some of his supporters suggesting that the Kiharu MP was being groomed to replace Mr Gachagua as the Mt Kenya kingpin — even before the impeachment saga entered the political conversation.
Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu, for example, once urged President Ruto to replace Mr Gachagua with Mr Nyoro as his running mate in 2027. Â
Mr Nyutu complained that the deputy president had treated politicians from the region with utter contempt and was divisive, and that he had no ability to help the president win a second term.
“If you have Mr Gachagua as your 2027 running mate, you will have problems. The only person who can unite Mt Kenya and help you win, to majority of us is Nyoro,” Mr Nyutu had declared in his heady pro-Nyoro days. Never mind that the Murang’a senator has since become one of the former deputy president’s staunchest supporters.
Mr Nyoro, who remained ambivalent during the 2024 parliamentary ouster drama and kept a low profile amid the political upheaval, is now seen as somewhat of a lone ranger, with no clear indication of his political direction.
Unlike the Gachagua-led opposition camp, which often holds joint press conferences and rallies, the Kiharu MP appears to be perfecting the art of solitude in his criticism of the Ruto administration.
He has even abandoned the high-profile visits across the country that aimed to project him as a leader with national appeal.
In recent months, he has been seeking to carve a niche for himself by releasing detailed statements on the state of the economy. This week, he has focused on plans to introduce more tolled roads, and previously, he addressed the 2025/2026 budget, the debt burden, and the high cost of fuel.
Media briefings usually feature his solitary figure as he talks at length about a particular subject, with the clips then being posted on social media.
The consistent attacks recently seemed to irk President Ruto and his allies, prompting Mr Nyoro’s removal from the powerful Budget and Appropriations Committee.
He was transferred to the relatively low-profile Diaspora and Immigrant Workers Committee.
Months earlier, in a major reshuffle that favoured loyal Kenya Kwanza and ODM members, Mr Nyoro was removed from his position as chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. He was replaced by Mr Samuel Atandi, the Alego-Usonga ODM MP and ally of party leader Raila Odinga.
Although he appears intent on forging his own path, with some suggesting that he intends to establish a third force, Mr Gachagua and his allies continue to view the Kiharu MP with suspicion.
They have told him to either openly join their camp in their quest to ensure that Ruto serves only one term as president, or they will consider him to be a “project” aimed at splitting the Mt Kenya vote.
In a recent media interview, Mr Gachagua urged Mr Nyoro to declare his position, warning him to stop hedging on matters relating to Mt Kenya interests.
“Make your stand about Mt Kenya interests known. Your silence is not helpful. We want to know our numbers. Matters community are not for the silent,” Mr Gachagua told Mr Nyoro on Inooro TV.Â
“We are having a Mt Kenya that is oscillating around three major formations — that for the president, for Mr Kenyatta and for Mr Gachagua. Mr Nyoro so far is walking the middle ground,” says Democratic Congress National Youth leader Gladys Njoroge.
She says that the formation of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) by Mr Gachagua, alongside his ongoing anti-Ruto alliance, has captured the imagination of the people of Mt Kenya.
Ms Njoroge added, “Only time will tell how Nyoro’s game ends, but he has to soon declare his stand in a region that has no political price it cannot pay when it feels wronged and in need of revenge”.
She cited past examples of respected politicians such as Martha Karua, Peter Kenneth and Wangari Maathai being punished by voters for defying the region’s wishes.
“We recently saw the region punish Mr Kenyatta in 2022 for pursuing what (Mt Kenya) voters felt was betrayal (by supporting Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga). We have seen the region salvage Mr Gachagua’s fortunes for believing he promotes its interests. At all times, Ndindi Nyoro must remain aware that the ground is hard,” she said.
Perhaps in response to this pressure, over the last two months Mr Nyoro has publicly expressed his views on the economy, road construction, school funding, debt and extrajudicial killings.
Some still think that Mr Nyoro had hoped to benefit from Mr Gachagua’s political misfortunes, which culminated in October 2024, and become the regional kingpin, but then things took a different turn.
“The schemers of the impeachment might have hoped that Gachagua would fade away and become irrelevant just like the fifth Vice President Josephat Karanja (1988/1989) had, immediately he was hounded out of office,” says Kirinyaga Senator Kamau Murango, adding that instead the former deputy president defied the odds and became more influential in Mt Kenya.
Nevertheless, Mr Nyoro’s silence during last year’s impeachment drama did not go unnoticed. He immediately started receiving criticism from President Ruto’s Mt Kenya loyalists, including the newly appointed Deputy President, Prof Kithure Kindiki.
According to Mr Kindiki, Mr Nyoro, who was then Chairman of the Budget and Appropriation Committee in the National Assembly before being removed from the position, had little influence.
But on April 1, 2025, President Ruto, while fielding media questions at Sagana State Lodge, declared that ” Nyoro is a man I am working with as I am mentoring him politically and in him I see great promise”.
In a display of political craft, Mr Nyoro avoids mentioning the President, Mr Odinga, Mr Gachagua and Mr Kenyatta by name in his statements, as he continues to build his image as an independent political force.
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