Attachments
The unrest expected in the wake of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s impeachment in October has not occurred. Since the spike in impeachment-related demonstrations on 4 October, ACLED records 12 such events, almost half of which did not support the former deputy president. Despite Gachagua challenging his impeachment in the courts, Kithure Kindiki was sworn in as the new deputy president on 1 November.1Wycliffe Muia, ‘Kenya court paves way for new deputy president,’ BBC, 31 October 2024; David Muchui, ‘Deputy President sworn in: Meru, Tharaka-Nithi celebrate as Kindiki takes oath,’ The Nation, 1 November 2024 Kindiki was previously the cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Interior responsible for domestic security.
President William Ruto’s appointment of Kindiki, who is from Meru, helped appease political interests from the Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru communities, collectively known as GEMA, after Gachagua was ousted. A new cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Interior is yet to be appointed, although the president is likely to recruit a successor from Western Kenya who can represent the interests of Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement.
Whoever is appointed will face the challenges of occasional flare-ups of violence between communal militias in the north and east and the enduring threat of al-Shabaab, particularly in the country’s northeast. The 21 reported fatalities in communal clashes in Tana River county in October illustrate the continuing power of communal militias in some communities and the multi-faceted ways the state can respond. In Mandera, the 11 attacks in border areas from 1 October to 15 November, 10 of which were against security forces, illustrate the continuing risk presented by al-Shabaab in Somalia.