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Gideon Moi: How Ruto took me for a ride

Saturday, October 24, 2026

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President William Ruto and KANU Party Leader Gideon Moi after a meeting at State House, Nairobi.

Photo credit: PCS

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By Vitalis Kimutai & Mercy Koskei

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What you need to know:

Moi gave the first candid account of their failed deal and the subsequent attacks on him and his family by members of UDA.
According to Moi, the first instance of betrayal occurred when former Prime Minister Raila Odinga passed away.
On October 10, 2025, President Ruto flew to Kabarak a few days before the nomination process for the Baringo Central senatorial by-election.

Kanu party chairman Gideon Moi on Friday launched a scathing attack on President William Ruto, accusing him of political conmanship.

This was his first candid account of their failed deal and the subsequent attacks on him and his family by members of UDA, the ruling party.

Mr Moi revealed that, before flying to Kabarak Farm in Rongai, Nakuru County, for a meeting with Kanu delegates on October 10, 2025, where he announced a newly forged political pact and Mr Moi’s subsequent withdrawal from the Baringo senatorial by-election, several attempts had been made to ease political tension between them.

According to the Kanu chairman, the first instance of betrayal occurred after a State House meeting and the Kabarak event, when former Prime Minister Raila Odinga passed away on October 15, last year. Mr Moi was prevailed upon to wait until the government had laid Odinga to rest in a state funeral.

“Following Raila’s death, I was told to hold on, that the pact would be fulfilled thereafter… I was told we had to wait for the government and the country to bring the matter to an end… Then we got to December, then Easter. I waited, I followed up… But I am here… still waiting,” Mr Moi told a gathering of Kalenjin elders and opinion leaders at his Kabarak home.

Later, He’d be informed that the political landscape had changed following the death of the former Prime Minister implying the pact had been overtaken by events. Mr Moi lamented that before long, allies of the president started insulting him and calling him names, as well as targeting his family members.

“I did not look for the President; he looked for me. He came for me, and there had been overtures for a long time. I am not one who divides the people. I am simply not one who dishonours an agreement. Yet that is what they have done,” he said.

The former senator said he had fulfilled all that was required of him: dropping his Senate bid, ensuring that Kanu did not field a candidate and pledging to support the President, including by organising meetings with elders.

Kanu chairman Gideon Moi when he met with President William Ruto at State House on September 8, 2025.

Photo credit: Courtesy | PCS

Also Read: Ruto vs Gideon: How Moi’s political protégé, heir fell out

“In all these conversations and agreements, I am the one who made the greatest sacrifice… There are people who no longer talk to me because of the deal, as they were disappointed and felt cheated. I agreed to meet with him (Dr Ruto) because he is the President. I did it out of respect for the Presidency. I gave the President respect on behalf of the people. I did that without reservation, in spite of resistance from my own people,” he said.

The Kanu chairman said he had not sought anything for himself in his agreement with the President, stating for the first time that he had pushed for the fulfilment of the pre-election pact between Dr Ruto, UDA and the people, including the creation of employment opportunities and the appointment of professionals to government. There had been reports that he made a fortune out of the deal.

“In all these, I never asked for anything for me—not a business deal, nothing. All I wanted was for our professionals to get jobs and for consideration of the Baringo and all our people,” he said.

Failure by President Ruto to fulfil the promises made under the agreement, which was crafted with the blessing of elders, was, he said, a personal and political betrayal.

“The elephant in the room is being hidden… They are blaming everything that goes wrong with them on me in order to whip the people’s emotions. All these attacks are pedestrian talk; they are sideshows to hide the failure to fulfil the promise we made when we agreed to work together. Anything else is idle talk,” Mr Moi said.

President William Ruto at Kanu Chairman Gideon Moi's Kabarak home on October 10, 2025.

Photo credit: PCS

He said he had convened the meeting at Kabarak to ask residents of the Rift Valley and his home county of Baringo to set him free to seek new political alliances as the clock ticks towards the 2027 General Election.

Also Read: Ruto-Moi deal that never was

“It has reached a point where I have decided that if the people will suffer, if my family will suffer… then let me come out and take care of my family and the people out there. Let me seek to preserve our name and our people,” Mr Moi said.

“I need three things from you—pray for me, release me to chart a new political path, and I urge the people of Baringo to forgive me for trusting President Ruto and agreeing to work with him. I need the people’s prayers because I have a lot going through my mind.”

The Kanu chairman said he had convened the meeting to open up about the agreement and seek direction from voters.

“I plead with you to please release me to chart a different political path away from the President. They did not appreciate our value… It is not difficult to be truthful,” Mr Moi said.

President William Ruto at Kanu Chairman Gideon Moi's Kabarak home on October 10, 2025.

Photo credit: PCS

He also discussed the troubles facing the Standard Group.

“They started attacking me through the Standard Group, where I am a shareholder. But I am not a journalist. I don’t write the stories and the headlines… I am just a shareholder at the Standard Group (with others), but all you see and hear is Gideon, Gideon, Gideon… I have become a punching bag,” Mr Moi said.

On October 10, 2025, President Ruto flew to Kabarak a few days before the nomination process for the Baringo Central senatorial by-election. In a rare move, he announced that he had agreed with Mr Moi and Kanu delegates to work together ahead of the 2027 election.

The deal caused Mr Moi to abandon his plans to recapture the seat he lost to the late William Cheptumo in 2022, enabling UDA’s Vincent Kiprono Chemitei to win the subsequent by-election.

“Let us not dishonour the values that are so dear to us. Let us not go against the values and principles that our forefathers and elders inculcated in us as a people,” he said.

Also Read: Gideon Moi set to break silence on troubled handshake with Ruto

President William Ruto at Kanu Chairman Gideon Moi's Kabarak home on October 10, 2025.

Photo credit: PCS

He blamed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi for allegedly landing their helicopters at Kabarak farm by force during the funeral service for Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director William Ruto’s daughter, accompanied by heavily armed officers without clearance.

“My niece was the only one at the farm at the time, and I was told that Murkomen and Sudi had landed with a retinue of armed officers. I demanded to be told what they wanted. They were harassing my family members and worker, and all they did was respond with public insults and repeated attacks,” he said.

Mr Moi said the government should leave his immediate and extended family members alone amid what he described as political and business persecution, and target him instead.

“The other day, one of my family members—Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich Chepkoit—was abducted, tortured and dumped at Masinga Dam in an elaborate security harassment operation targeting my family,” Mr Moi said.

He added: “I have told them to leave my family alone. Leave our children out of it, and come for me if that is what they are after. They know where I am; they know where I live.”

However, he sought to clarify that he had no personal grudge against President Ruto, whom he said he respected as President and Head of State, but accused him of reneging on an agreement and persecuting him.

“I want to make it clear that I do not have a grudge against President William Ruto. I do not have a personal issue with him. He is the President of this country, and we do not have another. When he forsakes you, then you turn to God,” Mr Moi said.

Mr Moi said the President, UDA’s top guns and power brokers were operating under the mistaken belief that money would buy everyone’s support and deliver the 2027 vote, when, in reality, the Ol Kalou by-election was the clearest pointer to what lay ahead.

“To deliver the Presidency, every vote counts. But they have started scattering the people instead of uniting them. They have stated that they do not want Gideon and his people… They do not want our votes,” Mr Moi said.

He added: “There is a bad spirit in government that everyone can be bought into voting in a particular manner. But I can tell you the truth: the political equation against those in power is very lopsided against them… The mathematics (votes) is not very good, and the future is not bright.”

He faulted President Ruto’s close allies for focusing on the 2032 succession politics before winning the 2027 election.

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What you need to know:

PREMIUM Gideon Moi set to break silence on troubled handshake with Ruto

PREMIUM Gideon Moi tipped for Cabinet post

PREMIUM Baringo Kanu leaders disown Ruto-Gideon deal

PREMIUM Why Ruto has pitched camp in his Rift Valley backyard

PREMIUM Why Jubilee, Kanu risk deregistration

PREMIUM Back to square one: How MPs reverted to livestream law declared unconstitutional

PREMIUM Revealed: Two in five teacher trainees failed after low entry grade decision

PREMIUM Why court rejected bid by Nicco Movers to overturn licence suspension

Search intensifies for seven missing in Eastleigh building collapse

PREMIUM Revealed: Two in five teacher trainees failed after low entry grade decision

PREMIUM University of Nairobi student creates AI greenhouse that thinks for itself

Gideon Moi set to break silence on troubled handshake with Ruto

Gideon Moi tipped for Cabinet post

Baringo Kanu leaders disown Ruto-Gideon deal

Why Ruto has pitched camp in his Rift Valley backyard

Why Jubilee, Kanu risk deregistration

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Revealed: Two in five teacher trainees failed after low entry grade decision

Why court rejected bid by Nicco Movers to overturn licence suspension

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