‘Whatever sacrifices necessary’: Gachagua vows to make Ruto one-term president

Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua has pledged to work with all Kenyans to challenge President William Ruto’s administration and make any chance of his re-election in the 2027 general election unlikely.

The former DP, who has relentlessly criticised Ruto’s administration since he was booted out through an impeachment last October, on Monday joined opposition politicians Kalonzo Musyoka and Eugene Wamalwa during the unveiling of the latter’s new DAP Party headquarters in Nairobi.

“We are part of this team and will walk this journey together to liberate this country,” Gachagua said. “We will make whatever sacrifices necessary to make sure William Ruto is a one-term president.”

Gachagua challenged Kenyans to stand up against Ruto, whom he accused of being “intolerant” and “dictatorial” in the face of the former DP’s purported protest against some of the policies the President wanted to implement such as unpopular tax hikes which eventually sparked deadly nationwide street protests.

“The government he leads is a one-man show; he wants his way and all those ministers you see there are flower girls. I was the only one who could stand up to him and say, hey boss, this can’t work,” he said.

“It is a praise-and-worship choir and I could not fit in it.”

Musyoka on his part rallied Kenyans to be vigilant and take note of all public utterances Ruto and officials in his government make which could potentially spark ethnic tension.

“Document every careless statement and forward them to the International Criminal Court; that is the only language William Ruto understands,” said Kenya’s tenth vice-president.

“Kenyans are amazing people, if you want to isolate the (Mt Kenya region), the people will report you for crimes against humanity and follow it up to its conclusion.”

Several politicians, among them Gachagua, have been accusing President Ruto of reviving the Mungiki criminal gang to cause division in the vote-rich Mt Kenya region.

But Ruto has said he will not be deterred by “incompetent, clueless and corrupt” people attempting to divide Kenyans along ethnic lines.

Gachagua has recently been forging alliances with political leaders he was previously opposed to, especially since his ouster from the government.

Just last weekend, he met Martha Karua, the NARC Kenya party leader who challenged the Ruto-Gachagua presidential ticket as Raila Odinga’s running mate in the 2022 polls.

Gachagua, bearing gifts (goats, sheep, and farm produce – a selection symbolic in Kikuyu culture) visited Karua at her home in Gichugu, Kirinyaga County, where they two vowed to recruit more political allies to “liberate” the country and challenge Ruto’s “dictatorship”.

He has also held a series of meetings with leaders from various sectors at his Wamunyoro home in Nyeri County, which he has termed consultative as he designs his political future.