The price of standing firm: The Mt Kenya women leaders caught in a political storm

By  Waikwa Maina

Contributor

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Eight Mt Kenya women leaders who backed William Ruto in 2022 were once praised for their courage and firm stand against the Uhuru administration.
• They now face threats, insults and intimidation from politicians allied to Rigathi Gachagua for sticking to their stand of backing President Ruto.
• They note that political attacks have increasingly focused on their appearance, character and personal lives, exposing the gendered abuse facing female politicians.

Eight Mt Kenya women politicians defied then-President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022 and backed Dr William Ruto’s presidential bid, later earning praise from Rigathi Gachagua, who hailed them as heroes, said they had shown more courage than some men and told cowardly men to "trade their trousers for skirts".

However, a year before the 2027 General Election, the same women are now accused of betrayal for refusing to join the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP). Mt Kenya is increasingly being perceived as a DCP base and allied politicians have turned the language on the women. Their male counterparts hardly face similar attacks.

The politicians are governors Cecily Mbarire (Embu), Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and Susan Kihika (Nakuru), alongside women representatives Faith Wairimu Gitau (Nyandarua), Anne Wanjiku Wamuratha (Kiambu), Betty Njeri Maina (Murang'a), Rahab Mukami Wachira (Nyeri) and Jane Wangechi Kagiri (Laikipia).

They say they have endured threats, blackmail and public intimidation from politicians allied to Mr Gachagua and DCP secretary general John Methu (Nyandarua senator). Other women leaders concur. 

“It is an open secret that any political event by the DCP in areas represented by the eight women is deliberately organised to attack, insult and demean the women leaders,” says Agnes Kamundia, a local woman politician.

How the rift began

The cracks between Mr Gachagua and Mt Kenya leaders showed even before his impeachment in October 2024. On September 12, 2024, 48 MPs rejected him as the region's political spokesperson and instead endorsed then-Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki as the link between Mt Kenya and President Ruto.

The declaration was made at Ndaragua Stadium in Nyandarua County. Mr Kindiki did not appear at the press briefing outside a Nyahururu hotel, but he was inside the hotel and left soon after it ended. The women MPs were part of that meeting, which paved the way for Mr Gachagua's impeachment.

Ms Gitau says it became impossible to work with Mr Gachagua after the 2022 General Election. “He was unsupportive of any development agenda presented to him by us. You will realise that most development projects were unlocked when Gachagua was impeached. He was inaccessible and a bully to other leaders; he has no respect for women. He would use derogatory words against us,” she says.

The second-term woman representative is eyeing the Nyandarua governorship. She says many Mt Kenya leaders tried repeatedly to reconcile with Mr Gachagua before giving up.

“We sent the clergy, professionals and influential leaders from Mt Kenya to Mr Gachagua, but nothing was changing; he wouldn't listen to anyone. He eventually started discriminating against elected leaders, planting opponents and grooming them against us for the 2027 general elections.”

‘You are a national leader’

Ms Maina, also a frequent target of DCP-linked smear campaigns, says she has no plans to change course. “Why would I follow someone for the sake of just fighting the government? Why would I fight a government that supports my development agenda? I am in the government to stay,” she says.

She dismisses claims that she has fallen out with President Ruto or is set to defect to DCP. “I am in UDA; I am not ready to join DCP. Joining DCP is not an option. If it will cost me my position, so be it. Hell will never be my choice if provided in the menu,” she says, citing milk coolers, a pasteuriser and a lorry presented to groups such as Aberdare Kinyona Legends as proof of the development she has delivered since Gachagua's impeachment.

Ms Maina has a message for the DCP leader: “I would wish to caution Mr Gachagua that he is a national leader looking for a national position; you should play in your league. As a Kikuyu elder, it is only fair that you can just accept to fight with your fellow men at your level.”

Ms Wamuratha strikes a similar note: “I will not follow or join Gachagua. I was not elected to follow anyone. I have two agendas: representation and lobbying for development from the government; that is my focus.”

‘Respect women’

Ms Kihika says her lowest moment came during the Ol Kalou by-election. Addressing Nyandarua leaders at his Wamunyoro home, Mr Gachagua said Ms Kihika, Ms Waiguru and Ms Mbarire had camped in the constituency wearing makeup and lipstick to try to win over young male voters for UDA candidate Muchina Nyaga, but the men resisted the temptation and remained loyal to their community.

Ms Kihika did not let it pass: “We as women leaders have persevered with insults, threats, intimidation and all dirty political games from the former DP; he has always been disrespectful to women even before impeachment. I asked myself, what kind of leader is this? What kind of backward reasoning is this? Respect women. We are wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. No amount of insults and character assassination will ever make us bow to you.”

Gachagua's camp response

Efforts to get a comment from Mr Gachagua and Mr Methu were unsuccessful. Other party figures dismissed the accusations as political posturing. Nyandarua DCP Party Coordinator Gabriel Gathure argued that the criticism is one-sided.

“In DCP, we have Kirinyaga Woman Rep Jane Njeri Maina, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara, and Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia. Why are they not complaining about mistreatment by DCP or our party leader? Gachagua supports women leaders; he actually campaigns for them, but he cannot be campaigning for women in rival political parties. The accusations against our party leader began during his impeachment motion, first uttered by Nyandarua Woman Rep Faith on the floor of the House. It was part of a smear campaign intended to support the impeachment,” he said.

Sasha Wamae, one of the lawyers who represented Mr Gachagua during his impeachment case and a Nyandarua woman representative aspirant, rejects the misogyny label.

“I can't conclude that Mr Gachagua disrespects women simply because he has had harsh political exchanges with female politicians. He works alongside women every day, and none of those who have worked with him has come forward to claim that he has disrespected, insulted or undermined them,” she says, questioning why political criticism aimed at women is labelled misogyny when the same criticism against men is simply called politics.

Ndia MP aspirant Jedidah Muchoki defends Mr Gachagua's record. “Gachagua criticises the leaders depending on their failure to perform per expectations; that does not amount to disrespecting women. I work with Gachagua almost every day; he respects women. Those accusing our party leader do so for political survival,” she says.

Wanjiku Muhuhu, also eyeing the Nyandarua woman representative seat, points to Mr Gachagua's marriage as proof of his regard for women. “My party leader respects women, as evidently portrayed by the way he treats his wife, Rev Dorcas. He just happens to speak a lot of truth, and sometimes it rubs some women leaders the wrong way because it exposes their ineffectiveness in their mandates,” she says.

What the attacks cost women in politics

Serena Minds Network CEO Joyce Ng'ang'a says the sustained attacks on the women should not be reduced to a UDA-versus-opposition contest. “Political disagreement should never become personal abuse. Women leaders from Mt Kenya, whether supporting the UDA government or holding a different political position, deserve to be challenged on their policies, decisions and record, not insulted because they are women or because of the political side they support,” she says.

She warns that normalising such attacks discourages other women from seeking office. “When women who enter politics are routinely subjected to insults, ridicule and personal attacks, the message received by other women is that politics is not a safe place for you. This can discourage capable women from contesting elective positions. The result is not just a loss for individual women; it is a loss of leadership talent for the entire region,” she says.

Ms Ng’ang’a points to a double standard in how male and female politicians are judged. “Men in politics are often judged primarily by their political choices; women frequently face additional scrutiny of their character, appearance, family and personal lives. That double standard needs to end,” she says.

She wants political parties to shield their members from sexist harassment and calls for stronger condemnation of gender-based political attacks from parties, elected leaders, the media and civil society. She also cautions newsrooms against amplifying abusive rhetoric for attention.

Her advice to women eyeing political offices: do not let the noise convince you that you do not belong at the table. “Politics is difficult, and criticism is part of public leadership, but criticism should make you stronger, not silence you,” she says.

“When we insult a woman out of politics, we may win a political argument today, but we risk losing a leader for tomorrow. Mt Kenya, and Kenya as a whole, needs more women willing to serve, not a political culture that scares them away.”

‘They have already made history’

Woman leader Christine Wanjiku says the eight have already made their mark, regardless of how the 2027 election goes.

“One thing I know is that whether the women win or lose in next year's election, they have already made history. Standing strong against the insults directed at them is not easy. If these women are not elected because of the insults and not because they did not perform, then, at one time, they will be vindicated; they will come out stronger.”

For now, the eight women say the insults will not change their politics. Kenyans will decide in 2027 whether that costs them their seats.