In the past two months, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has come across as a man struggling not to drown in the political pressure surrounding him, painting a picture of a tormented soul.
The inner turmoil has been playing out as occasional harsh words are thrown his way by former allies turned foes, and him responding in kind. The storm has since boiled over to a debate of possible impeachment against him, with some Mt Kenya MPs even openly attempting to link him to the capital offense of treason by accusing him of plotting to overthrow the government.
As a survival strategy, Mr Gachagua has been promoting populist slogans, such as the “one man one shilling one vote” push on resource allocation to be based on population, and trying to worm himself back into Mt Kenya’s favour by declaring that he is just but a simple villager.
The DP is certainly not short of critics, with sacked Moses Kuria, who was Public Service CS, dismissing him as a crybaby, who, even while his mouth is full of food, still wails for more. As for Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, she has dismissed the DP as someone who believes in capturing independent thoughts and ambitions.
In trying to make himself understood by Kenyans through public speeches and media appearances, Mr Gachagua has been struggling to articulate his grievances and why he appears so unhappy.
"In the process of explaining himself, he has ended up striking an image of a man struggling to balance between duty to remain loyal to his government and President William Ruto and staging an outright rebellion," says Political analyst Mr Herman Manyora.
After two months of trying to play around with words and emotions, Mr Gachagua has now exploded, profiling 15 areas he feels must be addressed so as to define his relationship with his boss.
In general, he, for now, rules out bolting out to strategise while outside government. President Ruto’s government was formed in Mt Kenya thanks to 87 percent of area votes which translated to 47 percent of its authority, hence an entitlement for Gachagua to remain rooted in it.
“I have been telling the president about some of these problems that I face…He is aware…he is my friend, and he is a nice man…we talk and consult, sometimes we differ and at times we agree…there are those around him who have become mischievous…some of these things must be ironed out to define peace and stability of our government so that we can move forward together,” Mr Gachagua said on Sunday during a live interview with Mt Kenya’s vernacular media stations.
His strong allies, such as Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara, Embakasi North MP James Gakuya and Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru are among those who have been hinting to the nation that all is not well in the second in command’s office.
Now, the DP’s allies have prepared a list of 15 areas they say have made his life in government and as second in command miserable to a point where in May 2024, he withdrew from the limelight, retreated to his Mathira constituency home and emerged a week later saying he had been in Mt Kenya forest fasting and praying.
Ms Kihara says listening to the DP’s recent interview, she identified several areas that strongly came out as “highly contentious and in need of thrashing out to install dignity and honour in Mr Gachagua’s office and authority”.
“The Deputy President revealed that of late, junior Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers have been raiding his office in the guise of investigating Gen Zs’ protests, attempted murder, arrests and abductions of his loyalists, impeachment shadow, phone taps and privacy intrusions as well as scandalising his children’s investments,” she said.
Recently, Mr Gachagua revealed that former Nairobi County Head of Intelligence, Patrick Gikonyo, who is attached to his office, recently survived an assassination attempt , while his allies, Mr Gakuya and Mr Gathiru had been accosted and their phones confiscated by the DCI.
Other aides the DCI has recorded statements from are Mr George Theuri, Mr Munene Mumbi and Mr Ngunjiri Wambugu, in relation to the protests where Mr Kiunjuri alleged, “Mt Kenya alone financed 25,000 hooligans to infiltrate the Gen Zs to cause violence".
Another area Gachagua highlighted was his feeling that the presidency had set him up against the rest of the country.
Mr Kahiga explains that, “Mr Gachagua was acting on orders when he launched attacks against former president Uhuru Kenyatta, talked of government being of shareholding and that he had set up traps in state house to stop Raila Odinga and his allies from gaining proximity to power, but when the country disapproved…his boss abandoned him and became part of (those) dismissing him as primitive”.
Governor Kahiga also amplified Mr Gachagua’s fear that the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party is sidelining him given that even though the Deputy President being the deputy party leader must be briefed on all activities before they are executed, was not consulted when the interim Secretary General Cleophas Malala was ousted
Mr Kahiga now warns that “Mt Kenya has many political parties that can act as a fall back plan should the happenings in UDA continue to play out as hostile to our safety”.
Mr Gachagua has also accused unnamed government operatives of sabotaging his war against illicit brews and narcotics in the Mt Kenya region, sponsoring rebellion against him in his backyard, government harassing Mt Kenya ‘king’ Uhuru Kenyatta and some people helping Mr Odinga to safely go over the “traps” he had set in state house.
15 reasons DP Gachagua is unhappy
1. DCI raid on his offices, grilling of top staff
6. Attempted murder, abductions and arrests of allies
8. Delayed implementation of ‘one man, one shilling’ mantra and guaranteed minimum returns for farmers
10. Frustrations in running of UDA party and the fact that, as deputy party leader, he is not consulted on key changes
11. Phone taps, anonymous calls and other privacy intrusions
