Democracy for Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua addressing the press during a past event at the party headquarters in Nairobi on May 12, 2026.
Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and his Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) now appear to have become the common enemy in the loose opposition alliance with accusations of condescending and cannibalisation tendencies that threaten unity.
Mr Gachagua and DCP gained a fresh impetus after the July 16 landslide by-election win in Ol Kalou parliamentary seat, where it scooped 85 per cent of the cast votes.
This win coincided with his self-declared 45-day conclave in his Wamunyoro village home in Nyeri, where he has been receiving delegations mostly from Central, Rift Valley, Upper Eastern and Nairobi regions for consultations.
As the extended conclave sessions end on Monday, August 10, experts have warned that Mr Gachagua has opened serious battlefronts that, if not well navigated, might spell doom for him. Political scientist Mr John Okumu warns that Mr Gachagua is laying a vicious trap that, if it succeeds, will build him and, if it backfires, will finish him.
“It appears Gachagua is not concerned about who wins the presidency. His agenda is to capture the National Assembly, Senate and devolution. His daily agenda is popularising his DCP to attract prime aspirants. If he succeeds in his declared 2027 goals, he will be more powerful than the president,” he said.
He says Mr Gachagua has been readable like a newspaper headline on the stands, especially when he said he need not be elected to lead but can be that impactful leader out of power.
“He has declared that he does not approve the laziness exhibited by most of his Wantam colleagues. He has complained of characters who want him to do the elephant work of mobilising voters only to benefit lazy bones in the opposition. He has blatantly said he will not be anyone’s worker in the opposition and his DCP will not carry joyriders. This means Mr Gachagua is using his strengths for his own advantage,” he said.
Mr Gachagua has declared that he targets getting 145 MPs, 20 governors, 20 senators, 24 Woman Reps and 1,450 MCAs.
“If he succeeds in getting those numbers, then the sitting president, if not him, will have to partner with him in ruling the country. The controlling numbers will be difficult to rule without, and Mr Gachagua is on his way to becoming more than Raila Odinga was in local politics,” said Mr Okumu.
DCP Party leader Rigathi Gachagua addressing journalists in Nairobi on July 10, 2026.
He said that “Mr Gachagua seems to understand that power is both pitched, as well as ambushed… He misses the presidential ticket; he ambushes the winner with numbers… This places him as the focal point of controlling both pre- and post-election coalitions and, technically, he can be the centre of power even when seated under a tree in his Wamunyoro compound”.
Mr Okumu says that the other political parties are realising too late that Wamunyoro has calculated viciously for 2027 and are trying to cut him off so that they can also scheme on how to get their teeth into the pie of interests.
“Mr Gachagua has come out as a man who wouldn’t care whether President Ruto won a second term or not. DCP strategy appears to be scheming on how to live with whoever wins the race. He is making his opponents—he has said all political parties in the country, including those with him in the opposition, are his competitors—appear like a suspect who escapes police dragnet only to fall into the hands of mob justice. That is when the suspect realises running back to be arrested is the better option,” Mr Okumu said.
The Mr Okumu snippets perhaps explain why, suddenly, Mr Gachagua appears to have walked into fresh battlefronts.
He has also opened a fresh battlefront with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, which has brought in a ground rivalry between DCP and Jubilee Party. While Mr Gachagua has declared a presidential ambition in DCP, Mr Kenyatta says his candidate is Dr Fred Matiang’i, whom he made Jubilee Party leader.
The point of conflict is that both the DCP and Jubilee Party are perceived to be mountain parties. Mr Kenyatta and Mr Gachagua are competing to become the command centre for the huge voting bloc in the 2027 General Election. Jubilee has since formed a cooperation pact with the Party of National Unity, based in Meru County and led by former governor Peter Munya.
DP party Leader Justin Muturi briefs media on remarks made by UDA Party Leader Rigathi Gachagua (inset) that parties should fold and join his DCP. With him is PNU party leader Peter Munya and Devolution Empowerment Party (DEP) party leader Lenny Kivuti.
Some of Mr Matiang’i’s allies and Mr Munya have joined forces with Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi to criticise Mr Gachagua, accusing him of disrespecting them and their parties and portraying them as having no measurable effect on the political spectrum.
Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi has said that he will oppose Mr Gachagua’s attitude until 2027, warning that he may end up helping President William Ruto win a second term. Mr Kibagendi said that Mr Gachagua is acting as gatekeeper to the Mt Kenya vote, preventing others from campaigning in the region. He vowed that other opposition groups would resist this.
Kitutu Chache South Member of Parliament Anthony Kibagendi.
“The people of Mt Kenya are good, and we will work with them. But Mr Gachagua is bad and should respect himself. I will fight him every day…”, said the ODM MP allied to the Linda Mwananchi formation.
However, DCP Secretary-General designate John Methu argues that Mt Kenya is not a region that can be commanded to vote.
“These voters are unique. We are a party whose slogan is ‘listening to the ground’. What you see Gachagua and DCP doing and saying is what the voters want. You are wasting your time thinking you can tell Mt Kenya voters where to vote in 2027. They will be the ones to tell us how we should vote,” he said.
The Nyandarua senator said the Ol Kalou by-election was a key indication of the voters’ views, and that those criticising the outcome should consult the electorate to understand the firm stance of our Mt Kenya voters.
Nyandarua County Senator John Methu.
“Mr Gachagua told all parties and their leaders that the Ol Kalou by-election was the perfect opportunity to find out what the people really think. He said the by-election was intended to reveal the people’s preferences, determine the most popular party and, by extension, identify those who have their ear. The results are in. Refer to your performance, since we made it clear that all political parties were welcome to challenge us. Your performance is the people’s verdict,” he said.
In the race, Mr Kenyatta and Dr Matiang’i’s Jubilee Party, as well as Mr Munya’s PNU, garnered a combined total of 226 votes. Mr Gachagua received 35,440 votes.
The DCP chair of the Eminent Persons Council, Mr Maina Kamanda, told the Nation that Jubilee and PNU are making mistakes.
“We welcome them to join us in mobilising the Mountain people in the search for a joint presidential candidate. They should not waste time saying that the people of Mt Kenya are good and Mr Gachagua is bad. The people of Mt Kenya control Mr Gachagua. Attacks on Gachagua are attacks on the Mt Kenya people, and this has been proven on several occasions,” he said.
Mr Kamanda also said that Mr Gachagua is a creation of those who refused to see him fade after he was impeached in October 2024.
He added that the DCP party has since become a political party with three elected MCAs and one MP. Mr Kamanda also showed on-camera proof of aspiring politicians attending the Wamunyoro conclave to pay homage to their leader.
Mr Gachagua has also opened a new battlefront with elders, clergy and law enforcers, where he is under pressure to play the unifying leadership role in Mt Kenya region. Already, he and some of his allies are on the radar of law enforcers over hate speech.
Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia.
Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia and Mukurwe-ini MP John Kaguchia have since faced law enforcement, and their cases over alleged offences against cohesion are in court. Mr Gachagua is also under investigation for the same.
But Mr Gachagua dismisses the crackdown on him and his lieutenants as a state-backed witch-hunt, wondering why others in government, caught on camera saying grave things about cohesion, remain free.
“We welcome this crackdown since it is helping us deconstruct this regime and its loyalists. When President Ruto’s allies walk with utter impunity, insulting and threatening others, they are called peacemakers. Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot has uttered serious statements similar to those that had caused the 2007/8 Post-Election Violence and ended in the county being shamed at the International Criminal Court. President’s Health CS Aden Duale has called a whole community hyenas and ruling party Secretary-General Hassan Omar has emitted bile against cohesion,” he said.
Yet, the enforcers, Mr Gachagua added, “want to tell us that because they are part of government, even when some of them are listed in the Constitution as independent, those loyal to their collective master have the leeway to preach violence, isolation and annihilation”.
This has placed Mr Gachagua’s allies in battlefront against the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, National Police Service and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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