The
glittering launch painted the picture of a governor firmly entrenched in
President William Ruto’s inner circle, commanding influence well beyond Nakuru
county.
However, in
the same week, scenes of chaos during a women and youth empowerment event in
Kuresoi North that left three people with gunshot wounds and culminated in the
arrest of area MP Alfred Mutai once again brought to the fore the tense
politics in the county.
Supporters
of Kihika and Mutai clashed in Nyota ward when the MP showed up at the venue at
Tulwet School, where the empowerment event had been planned. It was to be
attended by pro-Kihika leaders.
Kihika
remains one of Ruto’s closest political allies. Locally, however, she appears
to be facing growing resistance from UDA leaders from the Rift Valley region,
who backed her in 2022.
The
violence in Kuresoi is the latest showdown in what has become a series of
increasingly tense political confrontations, which have exposed widening cracks
in Nakuru’s UDA leadership.
Months
earlier, Kihika was engaged in a political fight with Senate Majority Leader
Aaron Cheruiyot, a close ally of President Ruto.
The fight
was triggered by a move by Cheruiyot to hold a closed-door meeting with
Kalenjin MPs from the North and South Rift in Solai, Nakuru county.
Kihika
publicly blasted the meeting as a divisive attempt to promote tribalism and
ethnic politics in her county.
The
gathering sparked tensions over claims that the Kalenjin community was being
sidelined in Nakuru’s resource allocation and political representation.
Kihika
firmly warned the Kericho senator against meddling in Nakuru politics and
attempting to intimidate her leadership.
Kihika is
also involved in a political feud with Rongai MP Paul Chebor.
The fight
is closely linked to positioning for the 2027 General Election, where Kihika is
accused of grooming and positioning her own preferred allies to unseat sitting
MPs, including Chebor.
While
Kihika enjoys considerable access to the national political establishment, her
administration is increasingly confronting resistance from elected leaders on
the ground. Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara has linked the political fights to
management of tribal dynamics in the cosmopolitan county.
“The big
communities in Nakuru are the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin,” she said on Thursday.
“Now, there
is a plot to play with Nakuru numbers. Aaron came and said that the ‘Kikuyus
have become governor many times. We will bring people and register them [as
voters] here’. That is bad and it is incitement.”
She further
linked the turmoil to higher-ups in the political set-up.
“There is
nothing Cheruiyot will say that the President doesn’t know. And I am sure of
that,” she said.
The MP
added that the breakdown in service delivery in the county has disfranchised
residents.
Nakuru West
MP Samuel Arama has also linked the tensions to “external elements”.
“The
problem in Nakuru is that there are people coming from outside to cause
trouble,” he said on Thursday.
“You
remember Governor Kihika lamenting when Aaron Cheruiyot held a meeting in
Nakuru. She said publicly that leaders should stay in their jurisdictions. But
at the same time, she is also bringing other politicians in other people’s
constituencies.”
Commenting
on the recent Kuresoi skirmishes, Arama said the interference in the
constituencies was to blame for the violence.
“When you
go to Kuresoi and tell the people there that their MP is useless, what do you
expect? Mutai didn’t elect himself. He has supporters,” Arama added.
The fallout
between Kihika and the President’s allies and the community, puts Kihika at a
delicate position in her re-election bid.
Already,
Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui is being mentioned as among the favourites for the seat.
Additionally,
former NHIF chief executive Geoffrey Mwangi is seeking the DCP ticket for the
seat.
Despite the
sustained pressure, Kihika remains one of Ruto’s allies and among the governors
who have consistently defended his administration.
Yet several
of the leaders who have publicly differed with her are also key Kenya Kwanza
figures with close proximity to the President, and influence in the Rift
Valley.
As one of
the country’s most cosmopolitan counties, Nakuru serves as a key political
indicator of the broader national political strength, making stability in the
county a priority for any presidential campaign.
