UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar Hassan stood before a Mombasa crowd that included President Ruto and told the Mt. Kenya community, "We also went to school, we are not stupid or lazy."
He accused them of historical oppression, arrogance and sabotaging the government they helped elect.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta detonated it on Monday at a Jubilee Party delegates' meeting in Kiambu.
"They are making the remarks in front of leaders of our country, and nobody tries to stop them," Uhuru declared.
"The silence," Uhuru warned, "could be seen as endorsing those statements and endangering social unity."
Omar, however, issued an apology on Sunday, May 24.
He claimed that his words were misinterpreted and taken out of context but his apology was rejected.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru called his remarks "ethnic baiting that seeks to isolate the people of Mt. Kenya."
She described them as "short-sighted, undemocratic, and severely injurious to the nation."
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua went further.
"Ruto knows very well that if Mt. Kenya votes as a bloc, his path to re-election becomes extremely difficult," he stated in Murang'a.
Over six million votes from the region are now fractured between Gachagua's western bloc and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki's eastern flank.
Ruto needs both the coast and the mountain to win in 2027.
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