Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Mr Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday declared his party targets 152 seats in the National Assembly and Senate after 2027 General Election.
Mr Gachagua said he is bidding for at least 130 members of the National Assembly and 22 Senators in the next Parliament "so as to cushion the country against senseless impeachment politics that President William Ruto's administration has introduced in the local democracy."
"Had we a strong Mt Kenya party that had sponsored elected leaders in the current houses, President Ruto would not have found it easy to bring together a gathering of traitors to hound us out of office," Gachagua said at Kihoya AIPCA church in Murang'a County.
"When the Houses are controlled by dedicated servants of the people, salient issues that affect the nation and her people would be easy to tackle. The biggest problem Mt Kenya did in 2022 was to blindly support President Ruto, going into the election with no in-house agenda and failing to vet our aspirants to rid ourselves traitors," the former Deputy President said.
"I put this mess that is President Ruto in place. I will lead in unmaking you. Our unity is our anti-Ruto solution. We have enough friends in other regions to make it happen. We built this government and bringing it down is the easier task," he said.
Gachagua said his party will ensure that those who get nominated are patriotic, of unadulterated integrity with a brain to match.
He said prospective DCP aspirants must be ready to present evidence of freedom fighters' spirit, love for the mountain and education to match the task of leadership.
He said aspirants will be subjected to public debates where voters will interrogate them and their agenda.
The former Deputy President was accompanied by Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu, Embakasi North MP James Gakuya and former Nairobi Metropolitan Minister Jamleck Kamau.
Gachagua’s allies warned retired President Uhuru Kenyatta against attempts to hijack the Mt Kenya region’s march to self-identity in 2027.
“Mr Kenyatta served two terms and is now retired. There should be no confusion on who should provide us with direction. All those seeking support from Mt Kenya must pass through Gachagua,” Mr Gakuya said.
Mr Nyutu said former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang'i should not expect to make inroads into Mt Kenya through Jubilee party and the political outfit’s secretary general Jeremiah Kioni.
"Mr Kioni is not the getaway to Mt Kenya voters and Jubilee Party is no longer the region’s special purpose vehicle. We are all in agreement that Mr Gachagua and the DCP are keys to Mt Kenya political soul,” Mr Nyutu said.
Mr Kamau, who decamped from Jubilee Party to DCP, said he failed to listen to the ground in 2022 when he sought to be elected as Murang'a governor.
“I was with Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022 and we thought splashing wealth around with give us victory. I spent a fortune during the campaigns and on the eve of voting day, I went to sleep well assured that I would be elected governor,” he said.
However, Mr Kamau said he got a rude shock when he woke up to see himself trailing the winner by a huge margin.
“I can give President Ruto and his Deputy Kithure Kindiki some little advice... the cash you are splashing around will amount to nothing. Just listen to the ground and do its bidding,” he said.
Mr Kamau described Mr Gachagua's brand of politics as a hybrid of merging the interests of his people and those of the national population while getting the pulse of the grassroots.
At the same time, Mr Gachagua also took issue with some musicians from Mt Kenya region who he claimed have been recipients of political tokenism form President Ruto.
"They were at Karen on Friday where each was given Sh50,000. That is money dripping of Gen Z blood. This is my direction for our people, boycott their music and entertainment joints also should stop inviting the sellouts to entertain patrons,” he said.
The former Deputy President also urged the public to unfollow the said musicians on their social media platforms, unless they apologise to the public.
