By highlighting these results, the president sought to project an image of overwhelming political success and national endorsement for his administration.
This broad declaration of a "clean sweep," even if factually debatable in its details, served the immediate political purpose of creating momentum and consolidating power.
The Mbeere North by-election is framed not just as a local contest but as a sophisticated "rigged trap" orchestrated by the president's camp.
The true target of this operation was the former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua. The narrative suggests the Mbeere result was deliberately engineered to humiliate Gachagua and his allies, thereby igniting an internal power struggle.
This strategy has successfully pushed Mount Kenya Members of Parliament loyal to the President to openly criticize and "explode" on Gachagua, exploiting the perception of his diminished influence.
The most visible consequence of this alleged trap is the sudden surge of criticism directed at the former deputy president by Mount Kenya MPs.
Having been handed a decisive electoral victory by the central party machinery, these MPs are now being used to publicly tear down Gachagua's standing.
They are described as "blindly exploding" on him, indicating a synchronized and possibly uninformed attack driven by loyalty to the current power structure, ultimately serving to marginalize Gachagua within his own regional bloc.
By personally highlighting the by-election results and orchestrating the internal fallout, President Ruto demonstrated an uncompromising assertion of total control over the ruling party and the Mount Kenya region's political direction.
The Mbeere win, regardless of the narrow margins or alleged rigging, provided the necessary ammunition to dismantle any organized dissent from Gachagua’s camp.
The message is clear: the President's strategy will dominate, and any opposition, internal or external, will be met with a swift and overwhelming response.
This entire episode, while focused on the internal UDA dynamics, critically weakens the foundation of the external united opposition.
The spectacle of internal UDA discord and the forceful consolidation of power in the president's hands underscores the massive resources the ruling party can deploy.
The opposition's failure to prevent the UDA from claiming a "clean sweep" and the subsequent disarray among Gachagua's allies suggest that both the external and internal challenges to Ruto's power are currently unable to maintain cohesion, paving a smoother path for the incumbent in 2027.
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