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Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has said he shares blame with retired president Uhuru Kenyatta for making President William Ruto a darling of the mountain.
“Uhuru Kenyatta erred greatly in going out in search of Mr Ruto in 2013. He allowed him too much freedom in Mt Kenya. It is through that dalliance that I came to know Mr Ruto,” Mr Gachagua told Inooro TV on Sunday night.
Mr Kenyatta, with his The National Alliance (TNA), united with Dr Ruto as running mate, who was the United Republican Party (URP) boss, to jointly fight International Criminal Court cases regarding the 2007 post-election violence and win the 2013 elections.
After the ICC cases collapsed, they went ahead to win a second term in 2017 before their falling-out in 2018, with Mr Kenyatta supporting opposition chief Raila Odinga to succeed him in 2022.
Mr Gachagua broke ranks with Mr Kenyatta and remained loyal to Dr Ruto and as his running mate won the 2022 presidential race.
He fell out with President Ruto two years later and was impeached as the Deputy President in October 2024.
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Were it not for Mr Kenyatta, I wouldn’t have known Mr Ruto, and of course, I would not have found myself campaigning for his presidency in 2022,” Mr Gachagua said.
He added: “If Ruto had not picked me as his running mate, he wouldn’t be president today. And he knows it. If he doesn’t believe it, let him face Mt Kenya in 2027. That is when he will know the mountaineers and the real sting of my influence.”
Mr Gachagua added that he feels remorseful today “over this twin tragedy of Mr Kenyatta introducing Mr Ruto to us in the Mountain and I making him President in 2022”.
“I am guilty of telling Mt Kenya people to vote for Ruto in 2022. Kenyatta is guilty of introducing Ruto to us in 2013. But Uhuru is now retired. I will correct both Uhuru’s and my mistakes about Ruto in 2027,”he said.
Mr Kenyatta had attempted to warn Mt Kenya people in 2022 to avoid supporting Dr Ruto.
Speaking in Murang'a recently, Mr Kenyatta said: “...but you could hear none of it...2027 you have another chance to correct your mistake...I am retired, yes, but I am available to offer guidance and support to the cause through Dr Fred Matiang’i, who our Jubilee party is fronting as a presidential candidate”.
President Ruto has recently toured Mt Kenya and declared disinterest in being dragged into “tribal outbursts deficient of development agenda”.
“After Mr Kenyatta brought me here, I cemented my friendship with you; the support you gave me made me president, and I'm not about to forsake you,”he said.
Mr Gachagua also said he was concerned about what he described as the infiltration of DCP by individuals he alleged were the president’s spies.
“There is this man who was spying on my DCP formation. He reported to work one morning, and my guards chased him away. I now see him all over, saying many useless things,” he said.
“This government has ended up being a monumental tragedy to Mt Kenya’s core interests of educating its children, getting them livelihoods, securing our people's health and creating a conducive environment for wealth creation,” he charged.
But Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri on Monday accused Mr Gachagua of “obsession with cry-baby tactics, overrating himself and recruiting Mt Kenya people into a choir of singing dirges”.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri.
“Mt Kenya people must demand quality engagement from all government hopefuls ahead of 2027. Gachagua is only telling us to kill and bury this government while singing dirges to us. He is not telling us what will happen after,” Mr Kiunjuri said.
“He is not revealing to Mt Kenya that the impeachment bans him from holding public office... he is driven by raw rage and his core drive is to weaponise Mt Kenya voting numbers for his personal negotiations,” he added.
“We are being treated to epic theatrics of a political conman whose beef with President Ruto is the impeachment, which, after all, was supported by 95 per cent of Mt Kenya elected leaders,” said the lawmaker.
On Sunday, Mr Gachagua said his biggest drive now is to mobilise votes to hit eight million and to ensure that the region votes as a bloc come 2027 for any other candidate apart from Dr Ruto.
“Ousting President Ruto from power demands mobilised voter registration and a huge turnout in the regions as well as voting as a bloc,” he said, adding: “It is for this purpose that I am insisting that all principals go and mobilise their bases”.
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