Members of the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) in Meru are up in arms after sudden changes in the county leadership left aspirants and supporters frustrated.
The chaos unfolded on Saturday, September 6, after the party leadership announced that the county chairmanship previously held by Timothy Kithinji had been handed over to James Mithika.
The move, which was done without prior consultation, has sparked outrage among members who accused senior party officials of interfering with grassroots leadership.
Aspirants in the region said the decision showed a lack of integrity within the party, with some threatening to abandon the movement altogether.
They warned that if the matter was not resolved, they would block party leader Rigathi Gachagua from conducting political activities in Meru.
According to them, the sudden change undermined their trust in the party’s commitment to fairness and transparency, especially as elections approach.
The party’s national secretary general, Hezron Obaga, who was present to oversee the process, acknowledged the discontent and announced that the elections had been extended for two weeks to allow consultations.
He assured members that the final list of officials would reflect fairness, especially in gender balance.
“We will strengthen when we have a list of officials that is balanced in terms of gender,” he said, urging members to remain patient during the ongoing discussions.
However, some aspirants dismissed the move as a sign that corruption and unfair practices had already begun to creep into the party. Benjamin Kimathi, an aspirant, said the change was worrying and painted a picture of a party that could not be trusted to handle nominations fairly.
“I have seen that this party has no transparency and has started with corruption early. If they can change the chairman overnight, they can also deny us tickets,” he stated.
Another aspirant, Jimry Murithi, expressed disappointment, saying that members had worked hard to build the party in the county only to be sidelined.
He noted that members had contributed financially and sacrificed their time during demonstrations, yet their efforts were being disregarded.
“That is why we will tell our people not to pay party fees because we believed we were investing where our youth leader was. Now we can even tell the youth to stop, because we are the ones who went to the ground, faced teargas during demonstrations for this party to save us,” he said.
Former chairman Timothy Kithinji also weighed in, urging for meaningful consultations. He stressed that the aspirants wanted youth representation to remain a priority in Meru politics.
“We still have left a gap for consultation as most of our aspirants want youth representation in Meru,” he said, signaling that the dispute was far from over.
The unfolding tensions in Meru now put DCP at a delicate point, with members demanding accountability while party leaders try to contain internal divisions.
The way this issue is handled could determine the future strength of the party in the county.
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