Will Nderitu Muriithi manage to swim against the dominant DCP wave in Laikipia

Former Laikipia Governor Nderitu Muriithi [File-Standard]

On August 8, Ndiritu Muriithi drove into Nyahururu’s town square in a convoy of several vehicles and announced to a 3,000-plus cheering, placard-waving crowd his bid for Laikipia governor’s seat on the little-known Kenya Reform Party (KRP) ticket.

Lasting barely three hours, the event may have looked modest and never made the front pages of the local dailies.

However, it generated widespread attention and discussion online.

By unveiling his own party, it has emerged that Muriithi, a nephew of former President Mwai Kibaki, is once again poised to swim against the dominant DCP wave, which is calling the shots in the Mountain.

This is not new for Muriithi. Except for 2007 when he debuted elective politics on PNU, he has always approached other election away from the blowing political euphoria in his backyard.

The warm reception accorded Muriithi is likely to rattle DCP honchos who believe they have a grip of the Mountain region.

There four other candidate seeking governorship on DCP so far and the headache at the moment is carrying a credible nomination process.

 “Why should we be herded together and forced to elect a person of questionable integrity just because there are in popular party?” posed a local leader Charles Rukwaro from Sossian, Laikipia North, during the rally.

In 2013, Muriithi run for the governorship under the banner of UDF which had Musalia Mudavadi as its presidential candidate.

He joined Jubilee Party in 2017 under heavy pressure from the electorate but ended up running successfully as an independent candidate after shambolic party nominations.

In 2022, when the Mountain was in UDA, Muriithi not only run on Jubilee, but was a key pillar of Azimio Coalition and chaired Raila Odinga’s campaign board.

Before the late Raila had named him chairman of his campaign board, Muriithi had thrown all caution to the wind and invited the ODM leader to Laikipia for three days before mobilizing other Azimio governors egging them to escort him back to Nairobi by road while addressing roadside rallies across a region deeply gripped hustler movement fever.  

In spite of the impeccable development record as a governor, he could not stand the UDA wave.

He quietly retreated to his private sector practice- doing consultancy work locally and abroad. President Ruto would last year shove him back into limelight last year after appointing him KRA chairman courtesy of the broad-based government.

The KRP was a surprise to many of his supporters who have been piling pressure on him to seek a second term as a governor.

In 2023, Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata in his weekly column in a local daily had attributed Muriithi ’s political loss in the 2022 election to his failure to read the mood of the people on the ground.

But Muriithi pushed back arguing that as a leader, it is sensible to ‘lead the ground’ instead of ‘reading’ it. Reading the mood on the ground is more for politicians (not necessarily leaders) whose only aim is to get into an elective office.

Privately, Muriithi has been consulting for a dozen counties and countries like Malawi and Sri Lanka. Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga attributes the county’s phenomenal growth of Own Source Revenue to Muriithi’s advisory role.

Those close to Muriithi describe him as workaholic, a hands-on meticulous planner who celebrates innovation but loathes mediocrity.

He is a man who is constantly haunted by the idea of doing things like your ordinary Kenyan politician.

Among the things that he is most remembered for as an MP is the construction of 23 new secondary schools in Laikipia west and a vibrant mentorship programme which saw an astronomic rise in students transitioning to university.

As a governor, he put Laikipia on everybody lips when he announced that the devolved unit would be floating a seven-year infrastructure bond to finance smart towns, water and other public projects.

Days into his election in 2017, he embarked on face-lifting the county’s urban centres which dubbed as smart towns programme.

He also initiated an enviable vehicle leasing programme that was improving rural roads at a far cheaper cost than commercial contracts and at faster pace.

He also established an innovation and business development programme to support local producers scale their business.

However, it his innovative economic stimulus model which pooled Ksh3 billions business support for local traders in the aftermath of Covid pandemic that earned him accolades in and outside Laikipia.