Kang’ata: ‘I turned down the Deputy President’s job — it was a trap’
Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata
The Murang’a governor’s explosive account of a rejected promotion and a presidential showdown lays bare the fractures inside Kenya’s ruling establishment.
By Jane Njeri
Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata has revealed that he was offered the position of Deputy President by senior government officials before he left the United Democratic Alliance, but declined, fearing it was a political trap that would cost him his credibility with voters.
Speaking in an interview with Kameme FM on Monday, 2 November 2026, Kang’ata disclosed that the offer came from senior figures within the government and that he subjected it to careful political analysis before rejecting it. “I was told to become the Deputy President. And I was told by senior people in the government, but as to whether I wanted it or not, I looked into other reasons,” he said.
Those reasons were stark. Advisers warned him that accepting the position would brand him a traitor in the eyes of the electorate and would not alter the political tide already turning against President William Ruto in the Mt Kenya region. “I was told by people that this was a trap because even if I accepted, I would not change the decision of the people, and the people would see me as a traitor. Another person told me that hurry-hurry has no blessings,” Kang’ata revealed. He concluded that the risks outweighed the reward. “I saw there could have been a much bigger problem ahead of me. When I did the whole totality, I saw there was no need,” he added.
His reasoning reflects a governor who had already calculated that alignment with a weakening administration carried greater electoral risk than departure from it. Kang’ata framed the decision in terms of purpose rather than rank. “The essence is not about being given the position but what you would deliver,” he said — a line that functions equally as political philosophy and as justification for a rejection that, had it become public earlier, would have reshaped Kenya’s political calendar.
Kang’ata also disclosed that before formally distancing himself from the government, he sought a direct meeting with Ruto to deliver the news personally. The encounter did not go well. “Before I exited the government side about a year ago, I saw the best thing was to look for the President and tell him that I would no longer be with him, and I did so. And we argued because he did not want to hear that. We did not come to terms, and I remained silent because he is my senior,” he said. The exchange, by his account, illustrated a deeper problem within the administration. “That is where I got the impression that people don’t want to be told,” he added. He also cited accusations from within government that he had failed to defend the administration during its political engagements in Murang’a — a charge he did not dispute.
The revelations follow a well-documented political trajectory. On 3 May 2026, Kang’ata announced he would not defend his seat on a UDA ticket. By 24 July 2026, he had formally joined former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for Citizens Party, declaring he would contest the 2027 Murang’a gubernatorial election under its banner.
Taken together, the interview paints a portrait of a ruling party that offered a governor its highest office to forestall a defection — and still lost him anyway.
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