President William Ruto's radical decision to hand Musalia Mudavadi sweeping roles at the centre of the delivery of his agenda, could eclipse Rigathi Gachagua.
Mudavadi's expected larger-than-life stature in the Kenya Kwanza government, could offer him political latitude to build a national profile as a formidable force in the Ruto succession matrix.
On Monday, Ruto put Mudavadi in charge of government delivery, technically becoming the man to watch in the execution of President Ruto's development agenda across the country.
Gachagua, the Deputy President, was left to coordinate devolution and chair Cabinet Committees with the actual planning, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of state projects under Mudavadi.
Analysts say the President's move is strategic to partly manage expectations in Western Kenya and also assert his authority as the de facto leader of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Ruto is said to be scheming to turn the tables on opposition chief Raila Odinga in Western Kenya as part of his reelection strategy with Mudavadi expected to play a key role.
However, there are no indications of him dropping Gachagua-a shrewd political schemer whose no-holds-barred and combative political approach neutralised retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in Mt Kenya.
Previous perceptions that the Jubilee administration was shared between then President Kenyatta and Ruto, then the second-in-command, was blamed for their eventual political fall out.
Some observer have opined that Mudavad's elevations to supervise Principal Secretaries and oversee delivery of the Kenya Kwanza development agenda could be part of Ruto's bigger political succession scheme.
Having penetrated and consolidated his support in the larger Mt Kenya region without Gachagua's hand, Ruto could be scheming a plan B with interest in the Western Kenya vote bloc in readiness for the 2027 duel against Azimio coalition.
“The President is being strategic and sending a message that he can not be held at ransom by Mt Kenya and in case they dump him, he has an option in Western Kenya,” said political analyst Alexander Nyambuga.
The university don told the Star that the President could have learnt a lot from his fall out with his predecessor that might be informing his strategic political interventions with eyes gazed on a second term.
'It was Ruto who toppled Uhuru as the Mt Kenya kingpin. What limits Gachagua from turning the tables on him in the same region? Ruto is well aware of the past and is planning ahead,” he said.
Through his first Executive Order of 2023, Ruto ordered that Mudavadi will assist him and his deputy in "the coordination and supervision of government ministries and State Departments."
The Amani National Congress party leader will now be in charge of the Government Delivery Unit, previously known as the Presidential Delivery Unit(PDU).
As the boss of the government development agenda, Mudavadi wields immense influence within the Kenya Kwanza administration and will be calling the shots in state hierarchy.
With this new roles, Mudavadi will be traversing the country to inspect and launch development projects being done by the Kenya Kwanza administration, getting massive coverage and political capital.
In retired President Kenyatta's administration, Ruto build his political war chest through his many countrywide trips to oversee the roll out of government development projects, especially in the first term.
He then leveraged on his tours to commission development projects to knit a powerful working relationship with politicians across the political divide as he plotted to succeed Uhuru.
“The President (Ruto)made inroads cross the country because of his frequent tours to commission development programmes, that is how he built his political capital that rattled the Uhuru administration,” said former MP Ahmed Mohamed.
Through his elevated roles, Mudavadi is expected to maintain a massive political presence across the country to possibly position himself as a likely candidate to succeed Ruto.
However, with Gachagua-the country's de facto second in command-seen as the favourite in Ruto's succession race, the two are likely to escalate their cold war in the coming years.
Already, there are indications that Mudavadi and Gachagua are rocked in silent political squabbles and power tussles in Ruto's three-decker administration.
During the Cabinet retreat in Nanyuki last week, Mudavadi was categorical that President Ruto is the undisputed leader of the Kenya Kwanza government.
“There is no Gachagua government, there is no Musalia government, this is President William Ruto's government and all of us are working towards helping him fulfill his mandate,” cautioned Mudavadi.
"The President demystified the notion that Gachagua is the natural successor, the elevation of Mudavadi is a game changer in the Ruto succession matrix,” observed Alex Kinyua, a political analyst.