Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said that residents of the expansive and vote-rich Rift Valley region have been shortchanged by President William Ruto’s government in the rollout of development projects.
In an interview on Friday night, he also revealed that he was seeking to shed the tag of a Mt Kenya ethnic leader and get the support of voters across the country ahead of the next general election.
Mr Gachagua plans to tour Kisii, Nyamira, Narok, Nakuru, Bomet, Nandi and Kericho counties soon to market his DCP party and touch base with the residents.
He, however, ruled out mending fences with the President ahead of the next general election after the fallout that led to his impeachment in October 2024. Instead, he would seek the support of Kenyans across the country after consolidating his support in the Mt Kenya region.
“I will be going out to listen to the people of Kenya, as part of the public participation process, on the reforms they want in government when we (the opposition) take over power,” Mr Gachagua said during a joint interview on Friday with some radio stations which broadcast in the Kalenjin language.
Democratic party of Kenya Party leader Justin Muturi with fellow opposition leaders Rigathi Gachagua, Kalonzo Musyoka, Fred Matiang'i, Martha Karua, Eugene Wamalwa and Cleophas Malala during the National Delegates Conference for Democratic Party at Ufungamano House, Nairobi on January 28, 2026.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
The former deputy president claimed that the residents of Rift Valley were warming up to DCP as a result of the win by the party’s candidate in last year's Narok Town ward by-election.
Mr Gachagua said DCP will conduct free and fair nominations for the various elective positions in the 2027 general election and that some of the leaders who departed his political corner in the Mount Kenya region either wanted direct tickets or were the President's spies in the opposition.
Mr Gachagua said the economy needed to be fixed, and there should be policies to ensure the agriculture sector thrives, should the opposition take over. He also talked of free primary education and rolling out infrastructure projects.
“Business enterprises are collapsing due to over-taxation and a poor working environment. Some of the informal business structures have been demolished by the government, denying the people the right to carry out business and feed their families,” Mr Gachagua said.
However, he said, the affordable housing levy, which he previously supported while in government, will be scrapped and the deductions reinstated in the payslips of the workers.
“I am not sure I can work with UDA since our agenda as United Opposition is to kick President Ruto out of the State House through the ballot in the next general election,” Mr Gachagua said.
He added: “We are his key opponents and we can not work with him now as we want to take over power and carry out reforms in government to the benefit of the people”
President William Ruto.
Photo credit: File
The former deputy president said he did not have any differences with members of the Kalenjin community, "as I have only disagreed with President Ruto, who refuses to listen to wise counsel in running the government and fixing the economy”.
Mr Gachagua said that despite voting overwhelmingly for the President in the 2022 General Election, the Rift Valley region had not reaped its rightful share of development in almost four years of the current administration.
He cited poor infrastructural projects, including roads, water and stadiums, as some of the pre-election promises the Kenya Kwanza administration had failed to deliver.
Mr Gachagua said that the Mau Forest evictees had repeatedly been promised resettlement and compensation, but this promise had not been fulfilled for years, including by the current administration.
Another group of evictees at Olkurto in Narok county, he claimed, had been abandoned by the government.
Mr Gachagua appealed to the residents of the region to spread their political risks in the 2027 general election by electing leaders running on different political parties other than the predominant UDA.
“I am calling on the voters in Rift Valley to ensure that they do not put their eggs in one basket in the next general election. They should elect some of the leaders from Dr Ruto’s political side and also from the opposition as a safety net,” Mr Gachagua said.
It was a total contrast to the countdown to the 2022 general election when Mr Gachagua, as a running mate, pitched a tent in the region, calling on residents not to vote for leaders from other political parties and those running as independents.
Among the key casualties of the message were former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, who, despite backing Dr Ruto and Mr Gachagua, contested on a Chama Cha Mashinani party, and former Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who ran as an independent candidate.
He claimed to have fallen out with President Ruto after he repeatedly challenged him on failure to keep pre-election promises, deviating from the original economic rollout script and misleading Kenyans on several issues.
“I challenged the President on his failure to appreciate those who voted for us in the 2022 general election and gravitated towards those who opposed us. It is immoral to isolate those who voted for you in an election,” Mr Gachagua said.
“The President only goes to Bomet and Kericho counties to attend church services, and not to launch development projects. But he goes to the Nyanza region (whose residents did not vote for him) several times on a development agenda,” Mr Gachagua said.
President William Ruto delivers his speech during the signing of a cooperation agreement between the national government and the Nairobi City County Government at State House, Nairobi on February 17, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
The former DP also claimed that Dr Ruto had surrounded himself with youthful and inexperienced politicians whose only agenda was making money and working for the downfall of others.
Police deployed to break up political rallies and church functions attended by opposition politicians, he claimed, were eroding the political grip President Ruto had in the country.
“When they teargas our supporters and us in rallies and in church, it works to our advantage as the President loses the support of voters. That is what the police, who are being misused by those in power do not know,” Mr Gachagua said.
Mr Gachagua reiterated that his impeachment had nothing to do with claims that he wanted to overthrow the government.
“Overthrowing the government is not a simple thing. Had I ever been involved in such clandestine power grabbing move, I would have been arrested and charged in court for treason,” he said.
He also denied having demanded Sh 10 billion so as to resign at the height of the impeachment process, but claimed that instead, he was offered Sh2 billion, which he turned down.
Mr Gachagua said he opposed some of the issues tabled before the Cabinet and the National Security Council, which were detrimental to the well-being of Kenya, the economy and national cohesion.
“Kenyans are bitter with the current administration because the President has done the exact opposite of what he promised,” Mr Gachagua said.
