NAIROBI, Kenya—Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has escalated his political confrontation with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, challenging his rival to move beyond personal attacks and nicknames and tell Kenyans what he would do differently if given power in 2027.
Speaking to newly elected United Democratic Alliance (UDA) grassroots officials in Tharaka Nithi on Friday, Kindiki dismissed the growing political exchanges around the names “Kasongo” and “Soprano”, saying such attacks offered no solution to the problems facing Kenyans.
He challenged opposition leaders to explain how they would address healthcare, education, agriculture, roads and other economic challenges instead of concentrating on political slogans and personal attacks.
“Those who have no agenda, their work is simply Kasongo and Soprano saying that someone should serve only one term and then leave. That is not an agenda; it is foolishness,” Kindiki said.
His remarks amounted to a direct political response to Gachagua, who has increasingly positioned himself as a leading critic of President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza administration since his removal from the Deputy Presidency in 2024.
Gachagua has in recent weeks repeatedly attacked Kindiki, including mocking his voice and referring to him as “Soprano”. Kindiki has responded by questioning Gachagua’s contribution to political and policy debates, turning what began as personal exchanges into a broader contest over leadership and political credibility.
But beneath the war of words lies a much bigger political struggle — control of the Mt Kenya vote ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Kindiki has increasingly stepped into the political arena in Mt Kenya East, engaging regional elders and building support around the Ruto administration. Earlier this month, elders from the region backed him as a spokesperson while supporting President Ruto’s bid for a second term.
Gachagua, meanwhile, has been building the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) as an alternative political vehicle and has intensified his mobilisation across the region.
The contest is therefore no longer simply about the relationship between two men who occupied the second-highest office in the country. It is rapidly becoming a battle over who will speak for Mt Kenya, who will command its political machinery and which political direction the region will take into the 2027 election.
Kindiki is seeking to make the government’s record the centre of that contest.
Addressing the UDA officials, he pointed to the recruitment of 100,000 teachers, construction of 23,000 classrooms, expansion of technical and vocational education and increased government spending on education as evidence of what he described as the administration’s development record.
He also defended the Social Health Authority, saying public health insurance coverage had expanded significantly under the new system, while citing the resumption of stalled road projects after the government settled pending bills owed to contractors. Recent reports show the figures Kindiki has been using in his defence of the government’s record, including the Sh784 billion education allocation, 100,000 teachers recruited and about 6,000 kilometres of road projects restarted.
The political message was unmistakable: Kindiki wants the 2027 contest to be fought over the government’s record rather than the popularity of political personalities.
He told the newly elected UDA officials that they would become the party’s representatives at polling stations and would be expected to take the government’s message directly to voters.
“You are the spokespersons of the party at the polling centres where you have been elected,” he said.
Kindiki also sought to portray UDA as better organised than its rivals, claiming that it was the only Kenyan party with democratically elected officials operating at polling-station level.
The claim points to another dimension of the emerging 2027 contest — the battle for grassroots political machinery.
While Gachagua has been relying heavily on rallies and regional mobilisation to build the DCP’s profile, Kindiki is presenting UDA’s grassroots network as a ready-made electoral structure capable of carrying the Kenya Kwanza message to the polling stations.
The Deputy President also delivered a personal warning, saying he would not allow himself to be politically pushed aside.
“I will defend myself. I cannot simply be chased away; I will defend myself,” he declared.
The statement is likely to attract attention amid growing speculation over the shape of the 2027 presidential contest and the possibility of changes within political alliances and presidential tickets.
For Gachagua, the challenge is equally significant. His growing profile as an opposition figure gives him an opportunity to consolidate the Mt Kenya vote around a political alternative to Ruto, but he faces an increasingly assertive Kindiki who is seeking to establish himself as a key political voice in the same region while remaining firmly aligned with the President.
The battle could ultimately determine more than the political fortunes of Kindiki and Gachagua.
Mt Kenya remains one of Kenya’s most consequential voting blocs, and the struggle to influence its voters is already emerging as one of the defining political contests ahead of 2027.
For now, Kindiki is betting on government performance, party organisation and loyalty to Ruto.
Gachagua is betting on dissatisfaction with the Kenya Kwanza administration, regional mobilisation and his own political brand.
The exchange between “Kasongo” and “Soprano” may dominate the headlines, but the real contest is much bigger: who will control the political narrative — and the votes — of Mt Kenya when Kenyans return to the ballot in 2027?
