Betrayed or Forgotten? Ruto's old tweet to Gachagua fuels debate amid ouster push

The tweet, which now-President William Ruto shared back in July 2021, is a testament of the better days the duo shared as former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration continued to persecute the two, mostly by weaponizing the legal system.

At the height of Gachagua's legal woes, where he would be ignominiously arrested at his Sagana home and dragged to court, William Ruto was one of his staunchest supporters, even as the criminal justice system accused him of fraud and corruption.

In the three-year old tweet, a supportive Ruto expresses his solidarity with Gachagua, terming the charges as 'trumped up' and blaming them on the 'friendship' the two shared then.

Ruto wrote: "My bro Gachagua, I know you are strong because we knew this politically instigated trumped up charges were coming. This persecution on account of our friendship & political beliefs will come to an end. They have connections, networks, pedigree & godfathers BUT we have GOD our Father. "

My bro Gachagua, I know you are strong because we knew this politically instigated trumped up charges were coming. This persecution on account of our friendship & political beliefs will come to an end. They have connections,networks,pedigree& godfathers BUT we have GOD our Father

The tweet, which has started re-circulating online, is a stark reminder of the glory days the political twins shared before ascending to power and falling out irreconcilably.

At the height of the Ruto-Kenyatta falling out, Rigathi Gachagua was one of the most prominent politicians who aligned himself with the then-Deputy President, risking his political fortunes for the sake of the man widely believed to be the 2022 Presidential elections front runner.

Due to his allegiance to Ruto, the Kenyatta administration made Gachagua a target and around July 2021, 15 detectives would raid Gachagua's home, dramatically arresting him and driving him to Nairobi to face fraud charges.

He told the media then: "“I have genuine fear that I will soon be arrested and charged with offences I do not know. My impending false arrest is based on my political standing. It will be malicious and devoid of merit to arrest me without any evidence linking me to any crime."

Kenyans have now started reacting to the old tweet, contrasting the current political woes facing Gachagua with the tribulations he faced then - in support of the man now widely believed to be behind his recent troubles.

"Yaani even after all he went through for your sake, you still came to power and put him through the same troubles? He was your guy 3 years ago! What happened Mr. President?" someone asked on X.

Some are now questioning the whole business of political loyalty, seeing that, even after getting embarrassingly arrested for supporting William Ruto, the same man would, just three years later, orchestrate yet another similar scenario.

"This man was undressed infront of his children because of supporting you. How can you forget that so quickly? Political loyalty is a scam!" Elvis Mwangi wrote.

Even as Gachagua continues to suffer unprecedented adversity, and is staring at losing his Deputy President seat, his former buddy William Ruto has not moved in to save his running mate, and is actually believed to have instigated Gachagua's afflictions.cc