Who Is Kimani Ichung'wah? The National Assembly's Majority Leader

Kimani Ichung'wah (Kikuyu) has been Majority Leader of the National Assembly since 2022, so government business goes through the House on his watch. He has held his Kiambu County seat since 2013 and remains one of President William Ruto's most loyal allies in Mt Kenya. As of 23 September 2026 he was defending the government's record in the region on two fronts: against Rigathi Gachagua's Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), and against Ndindi Nyoro's new party.

A butcher's son from Gikambura

Wikipedia records that Anthony Kimani Ichung'wah was born on 6 April in Gikambura, Kiambu, the second-last of 13 children of a butcher. He went to Alliance High School, qualified as an accountant through Strathmore and took an economics degree at the University of Nairobi. Wikipedia gives two different birth years, so we have left the year out.

Three terms in Kikuyu

His first win came in 2013, on The National Alliance (TNA) ticket. Nobody ran against him in 2017, and Wikipedia says that made him the first MP returned unopposed under the 2010 Constitution. Until 2019 he chaired the Budget and Appropriations Committee in the 12th Parliament. In 2022 he was re-elected on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, and the majority side made him its leader.

Carrying the Finance Bills

Every hard vote goes through him. He carried the Finance Bill 2024 that triggered the June 2024 protests and the Finance Bill 2026, whose debate on 17 June 2026 turned into personal exchanges on the floor. See how the Finance Bill 2026 passed and who voted for the 2024 Bill.

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot said in September 2025 that Ichung'wah had opposed Gachagua's selection as running mate in 2022 and skipped his unveiling, and that "time has proved" Ichung'wah right after Gachagua's impeachment in October 2024.

The Mt Kenya fights

At home the ground has turned hostile for the government, and for him.

• On 11 April 2026 there was violence in Kikuyu town. The opposition and Ichung'wah gave conflicting accounts, each blaming the other, The Standard reported. Gachagua called Ruto and Ichung'wah "the greatest political cowards".
• In March 2026 Taifa Leo reported that he cut short a speech after being heckled during Ruto's Kiambu tour.
• On 16 July 2026 he accused Gachagua of bringing goons from Nairobi to intimidate voters in the Ol Kalou by-election. DCP won that seat by 35,440 votes to 5,450.
• On 19 August he challenged Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) in the House to resign and seek re-election after leaving UDA. On 25 August Nyoro called him "jealous" and "conniving".
• On 29 August he told Mt Kenya leaders the region "cannot make a president alone" with its seven million votes.

On 8 September, in Gichugu, Kirinyaga, he urged politicians to keep off the IEBC's tenders. "The first 'I' of IEBC stands for independent," he said, as reported by The Star.

His own seat in 2027

His allies expect him to defend Kikuyu. In the reporting we found up to 23 September 2026, though, he had made no formal statement about his 2027 seat. In the meantime his work is getting government business through a House where ODM now votes with UDA on most measures, and holding on to what is left of Ruto's Kiambu base. For the region's politics, see Mt Kenya voting against the government and DCP's Ol Kalou win. The opposition side of the Nyoro quarrel is in our Ndindi Nyoro profile.