At the height of the falling-out with President William Ruto , then Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had a lengthy private conversation with an MP that would further worsen relations between the two top leaders.
While Mr Gachagua believed the conversation inside the presidential suite of a hotel in Kisumu one night in 2024 was confidential, it later emerged that the room had been bugged and State agents were listening in.
And it would appear the conversation was a tell-all by Mr Gachagua because when the contents of the secret recordings were leaked to the president’s inner circle, the plot to impeach Mr Gachagua, which was already underway, would gain more urgency, culminating in his removal from office in October 2024.
The contents of the tapes remained a secret, and so, too, had been the identity of the mystery man with whom Mr Gachagua met on the night of August 28, 2024, at the Acacia Premier Hotel.
Ng’eno, who has been eulogised as a brave and dedicated leader, will be taking to his grave the secrets of the meeting in the Kisumu hotel where the friendship between the president and his then deputy was broken beyond repair.
Other than the president and Mr Gachagua, the other man who had the finer details of what transpired on the night of August 28, 2024, in the hotel room was Ng’eno.
Emmurua Dikirr Member of Parliament Johana Ngeno speaks at Kipsinge in Sotik constituency, Bomet county on March 28, 2024.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
The others privy to these talks are shadowy State figures believed to be intelligence agents who may never come forward given the nature of their duty and the illegality of secretly recording private conversations.
The Nation learnt that it is the subject of discussion at this meeting that made the relationship between President Ruto and Mr Gachagua to break down irretrievably.
At the time, we could not name the MP for legal reasons after he failed to respond to our queries. The Nation had sought from Ng’eno, among other things, a confirmation that he had met Mr Gachagua in the hotel on that night.
We also asked Ng’eno if he was the man behind the secret recordings that were said to have found their way to the president and his handlers.
Multiple sources within Mr Gachagua’s inner circle at the time told the Nation that on the night of August 28, 2024, the then DP had spent over five hours with Ng’eno in his hotel room.
The purpose of this meeting was not clear at the time, but the sources said there was no cause for alarm since Ng’eno had identified himself as a vocal defender of Mr Gachagua in Rift valley.
Mr Gachagua had spent the better part of that day together with President Ruto on a tour of Nyanza region, an opposition zone that had been receptive to the Kenya Kwanza leaders, given the thawing of relations with then ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Ng’eno was at the time viewed as a friend and ally of Mr Gachagua, having defended the DP when the plot to impeach him was floated in July.
The National Assembly voted for his impeachment on October 8, 2024. The Senate upheld the charges and sanctioned his removal from office on October 18.
A day prior to the Senate vote, Mr Gachagua was admitted to Karen Hospital. Speaking after he was discharged, he said that while on official duties in Kisumu, unknown people had gained access to his hotel room. He did not name anyone.
He also claimed that his life was in danger after his security detail was withdrawn, and that at one point he had learnt of an attempt to poison him.
According to sources who spoke to the Nation on the events in the hotel that night, Gachagua’s inner circle and security did not anticipate any threat or sinister motive in his meeting with Ng’eno, who had gained his trust.
Also, Ng’eno had in the past election campaigned against Dr Ruto and had won the MP seat, beating the candidate supported by the president.
But unknown to many, a day before their arrival at the hotel, some routine security check had been done, except that this time there was a sinister plot.
An advance team of security officers and officers from the protocol team had secured the room where Mr Gachagua was to spend the night.
The team, which normally travels ahead of the president and his deputy, had made all arrangements, including a security assessment of the hotel where the VIPs would spend the night.
Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The presidential suite was reserved for Mr Gachagua, while other VIPs and security aides were issued rooms above and below the presidential suite.
Hours before Mr Gachagua checked into his room, a trusted security aide is said to have arrived for a routine check. This aide is said to have demanded to know from the leader of the advance team whether the room had been thoroughly screened.
The aide was informed that all security procedures, including debugging of the room, had been conducted.
Mr Gachagua and his confidant then settled for a lengthy conversation. Thereafter, the MP who was also spending the night at the same hotel, retired to his room for the night, according to sources. This would turn out to be a night of betrayal for Mr Gachagua.
A senior government official told the Nation that details of the secret tapes were first made public to them at a meeting between some religious leaders who met President Ruto at State House Nairobi in an attempt to broker a truce ahead of the impeachment.
This aide, who requested anonymity, said President Ruto had informed them that he was in possession of evidence that suggested his deputy was pulling in a different direction. Although the president did not elaborate on these secret tapes, there has been speculation that the contents were grave.
At the time, Gema chairperson Bishop Lawi Imathiu confirmed that he had visited the president at State House in August 2024 but insisted that the delegation of Gema officials had only discussed the issue of the Gen Z protests with the president.
Democracy for the Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua addressing journalists during his 'State of the Nation' briefing at the party offices in Lavington, Nairobi, on February 10, 2026.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
In a statement issued after the State House meeting, the officials said: “At the meeting, Gema leadership candidly discussed a number of issues with the president, and he gave us a good reception.”
Mr Imathiu, at a later interview with the Nation , said the grouping was still pushing for another meeting with the president where the Gachagua impeachment would be a subject of discussion.
“We are yet to get a date to see the president. We have been told the president is busy and that State House will let us know when he is free to meet us,” Mr Imathiu said then.
Another official who attended the State House meeting said the president had hinted to them the existence of the secret tapes.
After the completion of the Nyanza tour and the emergence of the secret conversation, the relationship between the DP and his boss was so bad that the following week, during a tour of Kirinyaga County, the helicopter carrying Mr Gachagua was recalled to Nairobi moments after landing. “We had to find alternative means of transport after the KDF helicopter left us in Kirinyaga,” said an official close to Mr Gachagua.
However, in a follow-up address, Mr Gachagua insisted that his apology to his boss was not an admission of guilt and that he was simply trying to clear any misunderstandings that might have arisen unknowingly.
“I want to clarify that my apology to President William Ruto didn’t imply that I am guilty. It was no way an admission of these ridiculous accusations meant to overturn the will of the people. It was just a gesture to ask for forgiveness in case there is something I may have done unknowingly that upset him,” he said.
In an extensive interview with the media at the DP’s residence in Karen, Mr Gachagua said President Ruto had never pointed out any wrongdoing on his part.
