Wamatangi and Ng'ang'a: The heat behind Kiambu politics

The Council of Governors Health Committee led by the Committee Chair, AbdullSwamad Shariff Nassir, Kiambu County governor Kimani Wamatangi and KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atella during a press briefing over Kiambu doctors strike in Nairobi on October 24th October 2025.[Collins Oduor, Standard]

Politics in Kiambu County has entered an unusually heated phase, with an intense rivalry between Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a and Governor Kimani Wamatangi playing out long before the official 2027 campaign season begins.

What is striking is not just the ambition of the two leaders to occupy the county’s top seat, but the arenas in which their contest is unfolding — development functions, public rallies and, most controversially, church services — sometimes in the presence of President William Ruto.

The rivalry is rooted in two powerful political journeys now on a collision course.

Ng’ang’a, currently serving her second term in Parliament, rose to prominence in 2010 during the Juja by-election after the election of the late George Thuo was nullified by the High Court.

Although she finished second to William Kabogo, boundary delimitation later reshaped her fortunes. In 2013, when Juja was split into three constituencies, she became the first MP for Thika Town — a seat she has since consolidated.

A close ally of President Ruto, Ng’ang’a enjoys the backing of several MPs across the county and chairs the Kiambu Members of Parliament caucus.

Wamatangi’s rise followed a different path. He burst onto the national scene in 2013 after being elected the first Senator for Kiambu, a position he held until 2022, when he successfully vied for the governorship.

Despite facing multiple impeachment attempts, he has survived politically, largely due to the backing of Members of the County Assembly, who have repeatedly failed to remove him from office.

Although the two have differed in opinion on several platforms, scenes witnessed earlier in December at a church in Gatundu North, in the presence of President Ruto, sparked a week-long debate and left many questioning the thin line between politics and religion.

Reports indicated that buses ferried non-AIPCA church members, complete with official head wraps, which later turned chaotic. This came at a time when politicians are gradually aligning themselves for various positions ahead of the next General Election in a county with a massive voter population.

During the service, there was shouting from a section of congregants who donned the AIPCA Church Women Council’s official headgear, raising questions about the extent to which some leaders can go to gain political mileage.

When the President stood to address the congregation, he urged leaders — almost all of whom were elected on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket — to unite and wait for the General Election.

He urged Kiambu residents not to confuse the upcoming party elections with an exercise to replace the governor and called for patience, adding that leaders would be re-elected based on their performance when elections come.

“I want to ask the people of Kiambu to be patient and work together because I am also ready to work with all leaders. I can see politics is on fever pitch in Kiambu.

“I know some elections will be conducted in January, but I can see a little confusion. The election is not for governor. Calm down — that will come much later,” the President said.

In her quest to woo Kiambu’s more than 1.2 million voters, Ng’ang’a has intensified her grassroots engagement, holding town hall meetings across constituencies — sometimes traversing as many as three in a single day.

Backed by a group of legislators allied to the Kenya Kwanza administration, she has aggressively courted salonists, barbers, SMEs and informal traders, framing her campaign around economic empowerment and inclusion.

“We cannot talk about development if hustlers are left behind,” Ng’ang’a told traders during a meeting in Ruiru. “Kiambu deserves leadership that understands biashara ndogo ndogo (small businesses), women and young people — not promises made every five years.”

She has openly pitched herself as a trailblazer, popularly known as Mama Simba, urging residents to support her bid to become Kiambu’s first woman governor.

With the backing of what her allies describe as “government goodwill,” Ng’ang’a has also been visible at the launch of several national government-funded projects, particularly in Juja, where MP George Koimburi — perceived to be aligned with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s DCP camp — has increasingly found himself sidelined.

During a development tour alongside Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira in October in Theta Ward, Ng’ang’a defended her presence in Juja, saying leadership was about service, not party lines.

“Development does not belong to one MP or one party,” she said. “If a road or a market is coming here, it is for the people of Juja, not for politicians.”

Ng’ang’a has told supporters she is ready to “take on entrenched power” and shake up Kiambu’s political order.

“This is not about fighting anyone; it is about courage. And like a lioness, I will protect the people of Kiambu,” she said at a women’s meeting in Gatundu South.

She has questioned her nemesis, saying her only problem is that she is a woman seeking to break the status quo in Kiambu’s gubernatorial politics, adding that she is determined to clinch the seat.

Governor Wamatangi, on his part, has dismissed claims that he is in campaign mode, insisting the time for politics has not yet arrived.

“When the time for politics comes, I will be ready. For now, my job is to deliver services to the people of Kiambu,” Wamatangi said recently in Ngenda, Gatundu North.

Over the last three years, the governor has criss-crossed all 60 wards distributing seeds, piglets, avocado seedlings and fertiliser to women and youth groups.

While the county government frames the initiative as economic empowerment, critics view it as a carefully calibrated political strategy to entrench his grassroots support.

Wamatangi has defended the programme, arguing that empowerment is the foundation of sustainable development.

“If we empower households economically, we reduce poverty permanently. This is not politics — it is governance,” he said.

Unlike his predecessors, Wamatangi has sought to engage residents directly, holding frequent ward-level forums and positioning himself as a hands-on governor.

“I don’t lead from the office,” he said during seed distribution at Magana in Thika Sub-County. “I lead from the ground, where the people are.”

Political analyst Anthony Ikonya says there appears to be a pattern among Kiambu Members of the National Assembly to unite against their governor for various reasons and incite the public.

According to Ikonya, one of the reasons is that the governor declined to cede land of interest, a situation Wamatangi has mentioned several times, in addition to refusing to accede to calls for political favours.

It is against this backdrop that Ikonya says MPs have rallied against him, fronting the Thika Town legislator as their preferred UDA gubernatorial candidate and also picking their Senate contender.

“One unique thing about Kiambu is that if you look at the way people cheer their governor, Ruto is afraid that a big chunk of Kiambu’s population believes in Wamatangi. If they are not on the same page, he fears Wamatangi could chart a different direction.

“These things that happen in Kiambu do not happen in other counties. The President was in Turkana, and you cannot see such things,” he told The Standard.

Wamatangi has, on several occasions, found himself on the receiving end — including an attempted impeachment just months into office, a raid by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), a prolonged doctors’ strike, the takeover of markets under county jurisdiction, and the Tatu City land controversy, among others.

Rarely responding to critics, he has often chosen silence. However, the church incident in Gatundu North — where he was referred to as an “outgoing governor” — pushed him to speak out.

“You know what I have faced at the hands of these people. They started right from my office with false charges — about 100 police officers sent to my office and home to pick me up. Another day, I went to church and when I got back home, there were gunshots, but they did not succeed,” a visibly irritated governor said in Gatundu South.

“They have tried to shame me in public. We went to a burial and I was denied a chance to speak in Limuru and other places. Everywhere they go, it is about insulting Wamatangi. Just the other day, they called me an outgoing governor. They mistake my silence for stupidity, but I know my focus. Campaigns will come in 2027. Stop hiding behind certain leaders and come to the people.”

Wamatangi insisted he would not be drawn into politics, saying he made his plans before being elected governor and demanded respect.

He said he sought votes with a manifesto he intends to implement fully before the next election.

“I will seek votes guided by the work I have done. If I have performed well, give me another chance. If I have not, you can send me home,” he said.

Leader of Majority in the Kiambu County Assembly, Geoffrey Mucheke, also weighed in, saying Kiambu would not tolerate disrespect of its leaders, suggesting they would keep off some meetings.

“We will deliberately miss some of these meetings. People should respect the governor. Some leaders have even disrespected the church. We condemn what Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a has been doing, and we cannot entrust her with Kiambu leadership,” Mucheke said.

Kamenu MCA Peter Mburu hit out at National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, saying Kiambu residents elected Wamatangi of their own volition.

“We will not allow disrespect of the people of Kiambu and the governor. We urge the governor not to go to places where he will be looked down upon and to continue with his empowerment work. He will be the first governor to be elected twice in this county,” Mburu said.

On the other hand, Ng’ang’a dismissed claims of orchestrating chaos, placing blame on individuals linked to the Kiambu County government.

She said her political base has grown beyond Thika, terming accusations linking her to ferrying goons as politically motivated.

“There was no way I could have influenced what happened because I even arrived late. The issues started when people saw I was not being given a chance to speak,” she said in an interview.

Political analyst Dr Martin Oloo described Mt Kenya as “a very interesting region” with unity that can be baffling.

“When Kiambu pulls together with Nyeri and Murang’a, they bring in numbers. But there have been attempts by this regime to balkanise Central by isolating Kiambu and trying to make it feel more like Nairobi than Central,” he said.

According to Oloo, Kiambu’s cosmopolitan nature — with many residents working in Nairobi and living in the county — makes it a critical political nerve centre with about a million voters.

“When you start sending messages that Kiambu can be its own region and does not have to belong to the other side, you are doing the politics of the day — softening the ground and giving people something to think about,” he said.

Meanwhile, the AIPCA condemned what it described as a calculated act by politicians who hired youths and selected church members, dressed them in official Women Council turbans, and deployed them in worship services to masquerade as genuine congregants.

“We declare without apology that the church is not for sale, not for hire and not for political manipulation. AIPCA must remain a sanctuary of truth, justice and holiness. We will continue to speak until the dignity of the church and its members is fully restored,” the church said in a statement.