After Rigathi Gachagua and his Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) won the July 17, 2026, Ol Kalou Constituency by-election with an 85 per cent landslide, he announced that a majority of government-affiliated leaders intended to align with him but had to be vetted.
In the by-election results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Returning Officer, Mr Antony Njiraini, DCP candidate Mr Kamau Ngotho garnered 35,440 votes, while President William Ruto’s candidate on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, Mr Muchina Nyagah, got 5,450 votes.
The by-election, which recorded 41,316 valid votes, had, during the 90-day campaign period, been envisioned as a referendum to measure where the Mountain voters’ hearts were, and the DCP win stirred the political waters as Ruto loyalists panicked.
It was then that Mr Gachagua, under pressure from UDA-allied leaders, was forced to issue three announcements — that he had forgiven all those who had impeached him as Deputy President in October 2024, that DCP was ready to receive all interested members, and that all would have to face voters in party primaries for the tickets.
But DCP hardliners refused the blanket amnesty for UDA leaders, insisting that the move risked admitting infiltrators out to spy on and wreck the party.
Ol Kalou MP Sammy Douglas Kamau Waweru Ngotho along Harambee Avenue, Nairobi, on July 28, 2026. He's accompanied by DCP colleagues as he heads to take oath of office.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
According to Murang’a Senator Mr Joe Nyutu, the move became an instant hot potato, with many insiders wondering how leaders who had been party to invading DCP rallies using goons, had impeached Mr Gachagua and had campaigned against the party in Ol Kalou, leading to two deaths, could be trusted.
“It is then that Mr Gachagua adopted our fears and, on August 2, 2026, at Outspan Hotel in Nyeri, decided to form a seven-member vetting committee to specifically scrutinise UDA loyalists who intended to join us,” he said.
The vetting committee members picked were Senators John Methu (Nyandarua), Mr Nyutu, Karungo Thang’wa (Kiambu), Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara, Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia and Embakasi Central MP Mr Benjamin Gathiru.
Mr Nyutu says the move further suffered a setback after a public outcry, with members demanding that vetting be done at political rallies, with Mr Gachagua present to get firsthand results.
“That is why so far we have not received any application to vet despite seeing some President Ruto allies joining us,” he said.
When the vetting committee was contacted by interested UDA leaders, they were referred to public rallies that Mr Gachagua was to attend, and Gatundu South MP Mr Gabriel Kagombe became the first casualty.
Mr Joe Nyutu.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
Mr Gachagua was on August 16, 2026, worshipping at PCEA Gatundu Church when Mr Kagombe showed up and, at the altar, beseeched the DCP boss to forgive him and accept him into his formation.
“Do not cast me away, accept me since I have reformed and I will start living like the Biblical Paul who had transitioned from Saul the persecutor of God’s people. I have since realised President Ruto was a liar and who needed to be voted out in 2027,” Mr Kagombe said.
Mr Gachagua told him he harboured no grudge against him, adding that he welcomed him into DCP, subject to endorsement by his supporters at an open-air public rally. Mr Gachagua invited Kagombe for a series of rallies — which ended up being a vicious trap for the MP.
In the first rally in Gatundu town, Mr Kagombe was invited by Mr Gachagua to address the audience, and immediately things went haywire.
The audience refused to give him a hearing even after Mr Kagombe threw away the cap he wore and put on that of DCP. In Thika town, too, the audiences refused to give him a hearing, and every time Mr Gachagua would confirm from the audience: “You have refused him? You do not want him? Okay, that is how we listen to the ground.”
Mr Kagombe has not since then attended any other DCP rally, and Murang’a Woman Representative Ms Betty Maina said it was better to remain in UDA or switch to farming rather than walk oneself into such humiliation.
Next came Ms Wangui Ngirichi, who, after leaving the Kenya Seeds Company where she was serving as chairperson, decided to join DCP in her bid to contest the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat.
She, too, was invited to a series of public rallies on August 23, 2026, where Mr Gachagua was the guest of honour.
Ms Ngirichi arrived at the rallies together with hundreds of her supporters, who created a standoff, especially at Kiaragana and Kiamwathi markets in Ndia Constituency.
Kirinyaga politician Wangui Ngirici at St Thomas Kerugoya Anglican Cathedral.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
What followed was chaos that resulted in one death and tens of youths being injured after they clashed.
Ms Ngirichi’s supporters had arrived to prevent a Kagombe-like humiliation and stood their ground amid heckling, forcing Mr Gachagua to threaten to ban her from his rallies.
“We have been peaceful in previous rallies in Kirinyaga. It cannot be that when you have come to us we experience this indiscipline. You have to tell your supporters to shut up and follow laid-down order,” Mr Gachagua said.
Since then, Ms Ngirichi has been carrying out individual DCP events in the county, vowing that she will hunt for the DCP ticket against area Senator Mr Kamau Murango, whom Mr Gachagua has been endorsing all along in his rallies.
On September 11, 2026, the DCP, led by Senator Methu as Secretary-General designate, was in Embakasi West Constituency, where area MP Mr Mark Mwenje sought ground acceptance, but it was denied.
Mr Mwenje, who had earlier supported the Broad-Based Government as a Jubilee member, was heckled by the audience, marking a pattern where, after the vetting of President Ruto loyalists collapsed and public rallies became a dangerous trap, many have opted to remain in UDA or search for alternative parties to carry on with their political ambitions.
But it has not been all gloom, since Kamukunji MP Mr Yusuf Hassan was seamlessly accepted into DCP on August 26, 2026, with the audience embracing him.
According to Embakasi North MP James Gakuya, who is a Mr Gachagua loyalist contesting the Nairobi gubernatorial seat on a DCP ticket, all those vetting procedures were unnecessary.
“If you feel you want to vie on a DCP ticket, there is no need to undergo those ceremonies. Just face the others in the party primaries. The Ol Kalou by-election showed us that voters will make their independent choices about all aspirants,” he said.
Mr Thang’wa said that the vetting can only take place if there is an application, and so far none has asked for a sitting.
“But the rules remain unchanged. If you know you participated in the Ol Kalou by-election campaigns supporting UDA, where two youths died after they were attacked by government-allied goons, do not bother coming to us. If you have been named in attacking worship centres using goons, do not seek DCP ticket,” he said.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (left) welcomes Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata to the DCP party at his Wamunyoro home in Nyeri County on July 24, 2026.
Photo credit: Courtesy
Mr Thang’wa said those UDA leaders who have been captured in videos attending rallies where Mt Kenya people were demeaned and threatened are also not welcome.
Ms Kihara said that “what we have been doing in coming up with those measures is to protect DCP from admitting government agents from infiltrating us… Deep inside DCP’s soul we know we don’t need them since our supporters have made a clear statement that they are after hounding out those they deem to be traitors of Mt Kenya interests”.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri told Nation that the vetting and public rallies’ humiliation were two stage-managed schemes whose express goal was to punish President Ruto loyalists.
“If this is how God will tell Gachagua to vet those to get into heavenly kingdom, then I will voluntarily and happily opt to go to hell. I caution all President Ruto loyalists that Mr Gachagua and DCP has no time for you and unless you are taking to him lots of money, there will be no genuine vetting and you will be humiliated,” he said.
