Gachagua lost, Lamu Woman Rep gained from 'tutam' booing incident

DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua during the official unveiling of party members of the county assembly in Nairobi on December 3, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

As politicians, Muthoni Marubu and Rigathi Gachagua are similar but different. Each verbalises what comes to mind and seemingly seeks recognition as the voice of different ‘Kikuyu’ clusters. While Muthoni believes she speaks for the Kikuyu in the Lamu and Coastal diaspora, Gachagua aspires to rule the entire ‘Ruriri’, or nation, wherever the people are. Their individual behaviour, while attending the funeral in Kigumo, Murang’a, of James ‘Bazenga’ Gakuya’s mother, exposed them. Muthoni’s political star shone while Gachagua’s seemingly dimmed.

Gachagua’s craving for the ‘Muthegi’ (symbolic Gikuyu traditional leadership staff) remains largely elusive. After the Ruto-orchestrated impeachment in 2024, he bounced back, increased his national political leverage, and became what Nyandarua Senator John Methu called the ‘Bishop’ of a religious-like political movement to bring ‘Ruriri’ together. His political antenna, however, was rusty and in need of buffing. That rustiness accounts for two unexpected developments. He missed an opportunity to play reconciler when ‘Wantam’ rowdies hounded Muthoni out of the venue because of declaring that she was ‘Tutam’.

He also surprisingly appealed to US President Donald Trump to do a ‘Maduro’ on President William Ruto. Although Ruto has routinely messed up and Kenyans are generally unhappy with him, Gachagua over-stretched geo-political imagination. Few Kenyans, irrespective of political affiliation, want to lose sovereignty. Asking Trump to pluck Ruto from Nairobi undermined Gachagua. ‘Tutam’ Muthoni would not be part of it.

Muthoni, the MP for Lamu County, is calculating and daring. She was born and raised in Lamu after her parents migrated from Maragua, Murang’a. An active go-getter, she surprised people by winning the Lamu Mama County seat as an independent candidate. She was emotional when ‘terrorists’ attacked ‘Mpeketoni’ and the government seemed unconcerned and Mount Kenya politicians, busy undermining each other, seemed to show little interest. To them, ‘Mpeketoni’ appeared like a distant forgotten place which created the impression that the people were on their own. Muthoni had attended the funeral as a friend of ‘Bazenga’, one of the few ‘Murima’ politicians who visited her in Lamu to understand the Mpeketoni massacre.

Muthoni’s ‘tutam’ declaration, a consequence of political dynamics going haywire, revealed three things. First, politicians routinely ignore serious agreements and second, MPs have a sense of solidarity when they sense danger to one of their own. In preparation for the service, there reportedly was an understanding that speakers would keep politics out of funeral proceedings. Some MCAs, forgetting the ‘understanding’, injected ‘wantam’ slogans into their speeches. Muthoni, a ‘tutam’ supporter, felt obliged to respond when her turn came and she did it with gusto. Thrusting her two finger ‘tutam’ salute forward, she looked determined and defiant, like a reincarnation of Muthoni Nyanjiru of the 1920s when championing the release of Harry Thuku.

Second, with Bazenga leading, the MPs forgot their ‘wantam’ and ‘tutam’ feud to show solidarity in protecting Muthoni, one of their own, from the baying ‘wantam’ crowd. Could Gachagua, ‘the Bishop’, have intervened to let her finish her ‘tutam’ statement? His visible failure to rise to the political moment turned the episode into a Muthoni ‘tutam’ moment because of the way she did it in Murang’a. Third, Gachagua showed poor political judgment by not seizing the opportunity to appear like a reconciler and peacemaker by properly guiding his ‘Wantam’ followers.

Muthoni’s ‘tutam’ moment catapulted her to national limelight, excited Ruto’s camp, and became the political talk of the town. She contrasted sharply with former Murang’a County MP Sabina Chege’s ‘tutam’ moment in 2025 in Lamu which backfired. Muthoni went to Murang’a for a funeral only to rise above other ‘tutam’ women as Ruto’s new political asset. Within the ‘ruriri’, she temporarily towered over many politicians.