NYERI, Kenya — Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga has stepped down from his role as the Vice Chairperson of the Council of Governors (CoG) following widespread condemnation of comments he made regarding the passing of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The resignation, announced during a press address on Wednesday, followed remarks made by the Governor on Tuesday where he appeared to celebrate the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Speaking at a funeral in Nyeri, Governor Kahiga claimed that the political détente between President William Ruto and the former Prime Minister had led to a prioritization of government development resources toward the Nyanza region, potentially at the expense of the Mount Kenya region.
During his Wednesday apology, Governor Kahiga officially tendered his resignation from the CoG position he was elected to on October 6, 2025.
“I want to apologize to the family, the larger ODM, my colleagues and those in the larger Nyanza region,” he stated, adding, “my remarks are personal, and not those of the people of Nyeri and the Council of Governors.”
He then took full responsibility for his actions: “I am taking responsibility and resigning with immediate effect as the vice chair of the Council of Governors,” the Governor affirmed.
During the funeral, Governor Kahiga, speaking in the Kikuyu dialect, had told mourners that Mr. Odinga’s death had “levelled the playing field,” requiring all political stakeholders, including President William Ruto, to reconsider their strategies ahead of the 2027 General Election. The Governor suggested this turn of events was “God’s plan for the region.”
He elaborated on this perspective, stating: “You guys can see, you can see what had been planned, but God brought something up. Now it’s total confusion. Everybody can see that. We did not harbor hate for anyone, but God came through for us.”
Governor Kahiga continued to suggest a deliberate shift in resources: “Because the plan that had been hatched, if you look keenly, for you who do not travel because I was in that region, all goodies were being directed there because of tomorrow’s plans, because it seemed like they did away with us, but God came and brought this thing.”
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His remarks concluded with a controversial theological and political blend: “So now people have been told to go back to the drawing board because the plan that was there was probably to throw us out. But who is God? Does he take ugali at somebody’s house or sleep in Kayole? He came through in his own way. He saw up there people in heaven are disagreeing a lot and came for Baba so that he can go and smooth things up there.”
The Governor’s comments triggered widespread national outcry, prompting the Council of Governors to convene an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday morning. CoG Chair Ahmed Abdullahi issued a statement clarifying that the Governor’s remarks were “personal views that do not reflect the position of the Council.”
Additionally, Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, who chairs the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), sharply criticized Governor Kahiga, labeling the remarks as “primitive, insensitive, and insulting.” Governor Wanga accused her counterpart of a history of ethnic profiling, particularly targeting the Luo community and Mr. Odinga, and denounced his latest comments as “a new low in our politics.”
