Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed that the traditional “gods of Mt Kenya” rejected Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s installation as the region’s spokesperson after his traditional headgear fell to the ground during the ceremony.
Speaking during his ongoing tour of the United States, Gachagua interpreted the incident as a sign that elders had failed in their alleged attempt to divide Mt Kenya and were now seeking to install Kindiki as spokesman of the same community.
Kindiki was endorsed as the region’s spokesperson by a section of Mt Kenya elders at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu on Saturday, with the elders saying the move was aimed at advancing the region’s interests and preserving unity.
Gachagua said the elders had acknowledged that efforts to split Mt Kenya between East and West had failed before proceeding with Kindiki’s installation.
“How can somebody turn up in a meeting for elders? Elders, their work is to bring people together and say we have failed to divide the mountain. We tried; it's not possible,” he said.
He questioned why Kindiki would then be made spokesman of the region.
“Then they say, now that we have failed to divide the mountain, and it should be one. Please make me the spokesman of the very mountain I wanted to divide,” Gachagua said.
The former deputy president then invoked traditional beliefs to explain what happened during the ceremony.
“I think the gods of the mountain house were powerful. I don't think they can allow such a thing,” he said.
Gachagua claimed that as the elders placed the ceremonial headgear on Kindiki, it fell off, which he interpreted as a rejection of the installation.
“So as the fake elders were giving him the throne and put it on his head, the gods of the mountain came and took it away, and it fell down, and he had to take it and put it back, which means the ceremony aborted,” he said.
“The gods have refused,” he added.
The incident involved Kindiki’s traditional hat rather than a throne: reports from the ceremony said the headgear slipped from his head as he sat down and was quickly picked up and returned to him.
The elders had formally endorsed Kindiki as their spokesperson and representative, saying he would advance the interests and aspirations of the Agikuyu, Ameru, Aembu and Ambeere communities. They also reaffirmed their commitment to keeping Mt Kenya united and rejected efforts to divide the region.
Gachagua nevertheless maintained that the incident carried a deeper meaning, saying: “The mountain cannot be divided, so the vote is intact.”
His remarks come amid an increasingly visible contest over political leadership and representation in Mt Kenya ahead of the 2027 General Election.