Like a master-level chess player, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is a man on an urgent mission. From his Wamunyoro home, he projects the gravitas of a modern-day emperor proclaiming royal decrees — a bombastic gesture of political grandeur.
Since his impeachment from the DP position, Mr Gachagua seems to be growing in political stature — the jagged hero of the common people from the rough-and-tumble of Central Kenya — the land of beautiful landscapes, of mumbling streams, of multicoloured butterflies, of open skies and of freedom.
But also, a land of rugged warriors, home to the Mau Mau, revered people of the mountains and of the winds, men of roaring songs, swift feet and sharp spears.
Maybe Mr Gachagua misses his days as DP — the official motorcade in the evenings and late at night on moonlit roads as he zoomed past far-off counties in Coast or Western Kenya and how the streetlamps shone like solitary beacons in the night.
Maybe gone are the memories of his days at the stately DP’s residence at Karen — the rooms in the afternoon, how they glowed with the sunshine hitting the windowpanes in a mysterious angle, how he would bury his head in the fluffy cushions knowing that he was the second most powerful man in Kenya and how the corners of the pillows felt, the blankets, the edge of the bed and everything painted in yellow light during the sunset.
And maybe how the air smelled like a pile of leaves he used to jump in as a child. That is all in the past as he is now concentrating on other things — on being king or at least king maker.
Wamunyoro is now his “palace” — a place probably close to the familiar sights of his youth where he is swarmed by echoes of memories, shadows and history. In media clips, Mr Gachagua’s compound looks luscious and impossibly green. Above is usually the blue sky with white clouds, nearby, probably fields of fragrant wildflowers and, in the distance, the vastness of the horizon — inscrutable and inviting.
Of late, Mr Gachagua has been teasing a possible coalition with Martha Karua, Kalonzo Musyoka, Eugene Wamalwa, George Natembeya and others. Mr Gachagua is receiving the applause akin to that given during the arrival of a Greek hero.
Impeaching Gachagua: The big interview
Like Julius Caesar who on 10 January 49 BC entered Roman territory by crossing the Rubicon on his way to conquer Rome, Mr Gachagua has seemingly crossed the Rubicon, and declared total political war on President Ruto’s administration.
Whereas in Caesar’s war there was the noise of weapons, the crash and clang and boom of iron, in Mr Gachagua’s political war, the weapon is piercing words delivered with belligerence for dramatic effect. And Mr Gachagua knows how to wield words like weapons — to searing effect.
Throughout history, narratives of heroes have captivated hearts and minds. The hero’s journey, a powerful narrative archetype, with its challenges and triumphs has been a source of inspiration for many.
Mr Gachagua is casting himself as that hero, up against overwhelming odds he is ready to beat. And this is how a myth — a fictitious or imaginary person or thing — is created using words, images and stories.
President William Ruto created the “hustler” myth and it got a life of its own. No matter what his opponents did, once the “hustler” myth picked momentum, it was unstoppable.
Mr Gachagua, a seemingly good student of President William Ruto, is busy creating his own myth. With the various dignitaries visiting and their visits beamed to the nation, Mr Gachagua’s Wamunyoro residency is now reminiscent of the DP’s residence at Karen when Dr William Ruto was DP under President Uhuru Kenyatta.
To create his own myth, allies of the former DP are trying out rallying cries like “Itungati”. According to Prof Peter Kagwanja, “Itungati” means “patriots or ‘warriors’ (plural) or ‘gitungati’ (singular).
Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi was the ultimate 'gitungati'. Mr Gachagua is clearly trying to build a myth, a movement probably as unstoppable as the “hustler” movement.
The choice of words, the images painted and the way a politician’s narrative is told matters to voters. Mr Gachagua is especially good in this because he employs a literary technique called melodrama.
Melodrama has been defined as “a dramatic work that appeals strongly to the emotions. The plot is usually sensational and the characters have very strong or exaggerated emotions. Melodrama focuses more on dialogue, which is often bombastic or excessively sentimental, than on action”.
One of the most important characteristics of melodrama that Mr Gachagua uses is intense emotional appeal.
After his impeachment, he painted himself as the underdog expelled from mainstream politics by powerful state forces and quickly consolidated his supporters around him.
Gachagua: Mount Kenya people are not tribal
In staking his career on emotional appeal to voters, Mr Gachagua seems like a good student of Aristotle, who argued that the three qualities of rhetoric (good communication) are ethos (credibility), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion).
Mr Gachagua has zeroed in on pathos (emotion) and the government is struggling to respond using logos (logic). The battle lines have been drawn, and Mr Gachagua has picked his side, ready for the still-forming titanic political battle ahead.
