Gachagua Says Kindiki Rejected by gods

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed that KithureKindiki was rejectedby traditional “gods of Mt Kenya” rejected the coronation of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as the spokesperson of the region.

Speaking during his ongoing tour of the United States, Gachagua seized on an incident during a gathering of Mt Kenya elders in Kiambu County, where Kindiki’s traditional headgear slipped from his head and fell to the ground.

Gachagua interpreted the incident as a sign that the community had rejected efforts to install Kindiki as its leader.

“As the fake leaders were giving him the throne and putting the headgear on his head, the gods of the Mountain came and took it away and it fell down,” Gachagua said.

“And they had to put it back on, which means the ceremony aborted. The gods refused. They are saying, how do you coronate a traitor?”

Kindiki’s ceremonial hat fell as he sat during the gathering at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County on Saturday, September 19, 2026. People seated around him quickly picked up the headgear and placed it back on his head.

The incident attracted attention given the cultural significance attached to traditional regalia and rituals in different African societies, where headgear can signify status, authority, identity and, in some settings, spiritual significance.

Gachagua, however, went further, linking the incident to Kindiki’s political history and his strained relationship with sections of the Mt Kenya region.

“How do you give coronation somebody who has accepted that he tried to divide the community and failed and given back the axe and then wants to be made the king of the same people he wanted to divide?” he asked.He claimed the elders involved in the ceremony were not representative of the wishes of the wider Mt Kenya community.

“Since the elders were fake, the gods of the Mountain said no and dropped [the hat],” Gachagua said.

He added that Kindiki would have understood the significance of the incident had he appreciated the cultural symbolism attached to the ceremonial headgear.

“If [Kindiki] knew the significance of that crown falling down, he would feel very sorry for himself,” Gachagua said.

The former deputy president also used the incident to reiterate his claim that the Mt Kenya vote remains united, dismissing suggestions that the region can be politically divided.“The Mountain cannot be divided. The vote is intact and that vote with the rest of Kenya will send William Ruto and Kithure Kindiki home,” he said.

Kindiki was installed as deputy president after Gachagua was removed from office in 2024, a development that has since shaped the political contest for influence in the Mt Kenya region ahead of the 2027 General Election.