Gachagua's DCP eyes Nairobi takeover with wave of defections from Jubilee

Rigathi Gachagua stood before a room full of newly minted allies on Tuesday and made a declaration that would reshape Nairobi's political landscape heading into 2027: his Democratic Congress Party was taking over the capital. The announcement came as Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan walked away from Jubilee Party and joined DCP's ranks, the latest in a growing stream of sitting legislators and party officials abandoning their old homes for what Gachagua called "the party of the moment."

The defections have given Gachagua something tangible to point to—not just rhetoric, but actual political machinery. Hassan brought with him the frustrations of his constituents: the weight of taxation, the climbing cost of living, the sense that the current administration had left ordinary Kenyans behind. "We have suffered," Hassan said, listing off the familiar grievances. "The cost of living has gone up, getting food is a challenge, the economy has deteriorated." For Hassan and the others crossing over, DCP represented a different path, one promising real change rather than continuity.

Gachagua's ambitions are sweeping. He announced that DCP would contest all 17 of Nairobi's parliamentary constituencies, confident of winning at least a dozen seats outright and mounting serious challenges in the remaining five. Beyond parliament, the party would field candidates for governor, senator, and woman representative. At the ward level, the math was even more aggressive: DCP is targeting 62 of Nairobi's 85 wards, with the remainder still in play. The numbers suggest a party preparing for total electoral combat, not a niche operation.

The political ground beneath these ambitions is substantial. Nairobi brought nearly 2.4 million registered voters to the polls in 2022, making it one of Kenya's largest electoral blocs. In that presidential contest, Raila Odinga's ODM won decisively with 57.3 percent of the vote, while William Ruto's UDA managed 41.9 percent. That gap is precisely what Gachagua believes he can close—or even reverse. He dismissed both ODM and UDA as "shells," hollow organizations that had lost their grip on the capital's diverse, restless electorate. His strategy, he suggested, was to reclaim the support he had previously helped Ruto secure in Nairobi, support that had since drifted away.

The defections themselves tell a story of organizational momentum. Beyond Hassan, Gachagua welcomed Jubilee's county chairman Stanley Kamore and 14 constituency chairpersons from across the city—Embakasi West, Kasarani, Embakasi North, Embakasi East, Roysambu, Kibra, Mathare, and Lang'ata. Former Roysambu MP Waihenya Ndirangu also switched sides, positioning himself to challenge the incumbent MP Kamande Mwafrika for DCP's nomination. Ward-level aspirants from Njiru, Ruai, Embakasi East, Starehe, Eastleigh, and South C also came aboard. The roster of sitting MPs already aligned with DCP in Nairobi includes Starehe's Amos Mwago, Embakasi North's James Gakuya, Embakasi Central's Major Donk Gathiru, Embakasi West's Mark Mwenje, and Roysambu's Kamande Mwafrika. Notable figures like former nominated senator Millicent Omanga and former Kasarani MP Mercy Gakuya have also thrown their weight behind Gachagua.

Yet the defections have also exposed fractures. Jubilee's county chairman Kamore declared that the party had effectively "shut down" its Nairobi operations, a stunning admission of defeat in what was once a stronghold. More tellingly, tensions flared between Gachagua and Jubilee presidential aspirant Fred Matiang'i over an alleged agreement that DCP would cede ground to Jubilee in Ol Kalou. Gachagua rejected the notion outright. "Leadership is not a cigarette that you can just pass over," he said. "You have to engage the people. I want us to compete fairly." He also accused Jubilee of organizing violence against DCP, naming Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama as having allegedly planned to mobilize goons to attack him during a visit to the area. These are the kinds of accusations that suggest the political temperature is rising.

What remains uncertain is whether Gachagua can translate organizational strength into votes. The 2027 election will be his first real test. He is positioning DCP to compete against two entrenched forces—the UDA, which still holds the presidency, and ODM, which dominated Nairobi in 2022 and remains a formidable machine. The capital's electorate is large, ethnically diverse, and historically volatile. Gachagua has the structure now. Whether he has the message and the momentum to move that structure into actual electoral victory is the question that will define the next campaign.