President William Ruto (right) and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the National Prayer Breakfast at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on May 30, 2024.
President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government grand dream is facing a litmus test amid a fractious relationship with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua as the two appear to be reading from different scripts.
The rift between the two top Kenya Kwanza leaders, which seems to widen daily, is now becoming costly to the party with two factions emerging, pointing to a government in disarray.
Once joined at the hip after a bitter fallout with former President Uhuru Kenyatta during the second term of the Jubilee regime, the camaraderie between the two now appears to be at its lowest, signalling a long road ahead for the current administration.
War against illicit brews
Already, an initially-widely supported initiative by the government, the war against illicit brews in Mt Kenya region, is now crumbling amid political tension in the government.
Lifting a lid on the turmoil in the government, DP Gachagua trained his guns on some “overzealous government officers” at the Ministry of Interior, accusing them of sabotaging and politicising the exercise, a move that he said would also create a wedge between the President and Kenyans. At the weekend, Mr Gachagua even challenged the President to publicly declare his stance on the crackdown.
Every part of Kenya is entitled to prosperity not (Mt Kenya) alone or at the expense of any other part of Kenya but rather, as part of the whole, Former Interior CS Kithure Kindiki
He pointed out that the crackdown on the sale and consumption of illicit brews, drugs and substance abuse had been ratified by the Cabinet in March last year, but that the resolution was now being vacated.
The former Mathira lawmaker said the ratified enforcement measures to tackle the problem of illicit alcohol and drug abuse in the country are now hanging on a thin thread with the officers allowing for the reopening of illegal bars.
A livid Gachagua warned that the popularity of President Ruto’s administration would depend on interference or non-interference with the war against illicit brews.
“No decision has been made by the Cabinet to stop war against illicit brew or allow the illegal liquor joints to reopen. Anybody stopping or undermining the fight is setting the President and the government against the people of Kenya,” said the DP while speaking at the PEFA Church Kiamariga, Nyeri County.
In an apparent attack on his hitherto political ally, Mathira MP Erick Wamumbi, the DP hit out at his successor accusing him of being used to facilitate the re-opening of bars in the region to frustrate his mission to end alcoholism.
“I heard that our local MP has directed security officers in Karatina, purportedly on orders from above, to re-open bars. Stop playing politics with the lives of the people,” Mr Gachagua said.
“An MP cannot instruct security officers, if security officers from this region are taking instructions from an MP, we shall discipline them,” he added.
But Mr Wamumbi hit back at the DP, saying there are no bar owners in the area selling illicit brew, a far cry from the position taken by his predecessor.
The DP had said the sale of illicit brews had led to many lost lives as well as broken families and livelihoods from the businesses.
“If any chief or the deputy county commissioner has any problem with any business in Mathira, he should come with the reasons,” said Mr Wamumbi.
The legislator, who has lately sided with President Ruto, said his differences with Mr Gachagua resulted from his refusal to ditch the President and work with the DP to strategise for 2027.
The widening rift has also crept into the planned reforms in the government, following weeks of protests by Gen Z, with a standoff over reorganisation of the Cabinet with two factions emerging.
The Cabinet, before the ministers were sent packing last week, had been split between allies of the President and those of his deputy, with former Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and his Public Service counterpart Moses Kuria not seeing eye-to-eye with the DP.
10 Principal Secretaries
The Mt Kenya region got seven CSs and at least 10 Principal Secretaries (PSs) in the Kenya Kwanza government, but amid the political turmoil, with the ministers gone and PSs now find themselves in a catch-22 situation on who to side with as the differences escalate.
DP Gachagua, during the burial of her sister, Leah Wangari Muriuki, in Laikipia County last week, only former Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi accompanied him. Others, including the President, gave the function a wide berth.
When last month, the DP said abductions, extra-judicial killings, and the use of the criminal justice system to manage politics in the country are suddenly back despite a promise they made together with the President that such would never happen again, Prof Kindiki was stinging in his response.
“The government has noted with concern claims of abductions and enforced disappearances allegedly perpetrated by security personnel,” the former Interior boss said.
“All persons within the territory of Kenya are protected from unlawful and arbitrary arrests, abductions, enforced disappearances or any other illegal methods of confining suspected criminals for purposes of investigations for prosecution or for whatever purpose whatsoever,” he added in the statement dated July 9, 2024.
The DP had even claimed that even MPs who had voted “No” for the Finance Bill 2024 were also being targeted by security officers.
The war between the two leaders could also spill to Parliament as the battle to control the August House now threatens to be the next battle line.
Signs of MPs taking sides manifested during the recent voting for the controversial Finance Bill, 2024 where lawmakers aligned to the DP either absented themselves from the process or voted against the Bill.
Having a majority of MPs in Parliament gives a President the legroom to implement his policies and programmes easily, but this could be threatened should there be a split within the Kenya Kwanza government.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwah, the de facto leader of government business in the House, has not hidden his differences with the DP. The same can be said of Majority Whip, Sylvanus Osoro.
The Kikuyu MP recently led the chorus to discuss the conduct of the DP after boarding a KQ flight despite a huge allocation at his office.
On the other hand, Mr Osoro has in the past accused Mr Gachagua of undermining the Office of the President and propagating tribalism, especially with his calls for a “one man, one vote, one shilling” formula of sharing resources.
CSs Kipchumba Murkomen, Prof Kindiki and Aden Duale have also told off the DP over the same remarks, accusing him of attempting to take the country back to 2007/2008 when communities were mobilised against one another in the run-up to the General Election.
“Every part of Kenya is entitled to prosperity not (Mt Kenya) alone or at the expense of any other part of Kenya but rather, as part of the whole,” said Mr Kindiki.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru added that Mt Kenya cannot afford to be misled by leaders who want to separate them from the rest of the country.
Ethnic politics
However, his declaration has since attracted ire from politicians and senior government officials from the area allied to President Ruto who have reproached him for perpetuating ethnic politics.
“You cannot build a kingdom with someone who wants the attention of the village,” said Mr Ichung’wah, adding that leaders from the region will not be blackmailed using the ethnic mobilisation card.
There is also the battle for the vote-rich Mt Kenya region with Mr Gachagua declaring himself the region’s kingpin.
He even went ahead to call for the naming and shaming of leaders from the region he termed as “traitors” for opposing the bid to unite the region.
However, the leaders have told the DP to resign and wait to face off with the President in 2027.
When the President announced austerity measures following pressure from protesting youth doing away with budget allocations to offices of the First Lady, spouse to the DP and of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
But the DP’s wife, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, said she would not be deterred from continuing with her projects such as the Boy Child Rehabilitation and Mentorship programme, despite the austerity measures.
“I am saying this without fear. People must be sober. I won't stop the Boy Child programme. I urge the church to participate and open doors for those affected by illicit brews and drug abuse,” said Ms Rigathi.
The political supremacy battles between the top two Kenya Kwanza political honchos is now threatening the long-term ambitious pledge by the President to transform the country by 2027.
