Rigathi Gachagua during the media briefing yesterday.
By MKT Reporter
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua yesterday intensified his political attacks against President William Ruto, raising concerns over the President’s security, accusing the government of using intimidation in by-elections, and unveiling major changes within his Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) as the 2027 political battle gathers momentum.
Speaking after a meeting of the DCP National Executive Council in Nairobi, Gachagua claimed President Ruto’s administration had become increasingly unpopular and could only survive politically through “money, guns and goons.”
The former deputy president, who has emerged as one of Ruto’s fiercest critics since his impeachment in 2024, said his party had performed strongly in the recent Emurua Dikirr by-election despite allegedly facing voter bribery and intimidation.
DCP candidate Vincent Rotich finished second with 10,760 votes in the Narok County contest, which Gachagua described as a moral victory in what he called a political stronghold of President Ruto.
“We knew of victory. We already got it. But voter bribery and intimidation on the night of the election by Mr William Ruto and his wheelbarrow party brought in a shade of darkness,” Gachagua said.
He accused the President of using public resources to influence elections.
“It is clear Mr William Ruto and his lost brigade cannot get a vote anywhere in Kenya without paying heavily and using guns and goons,” he claimed.
Gachagua’s remarks came as DCP announced what it described as growing political support in Rift Valley counties traditionally seen as Ruto strongholds.
The party said it had received increased interest from aspirants in North Rift and South Rift seeking to contest various elective seats on the DCP ticket ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The former deputy president used the meeting to restructure his party leadership, appointing Nyandarua Senator John Methu as Secretary General designate and party spokesperson.
Methu will work alongside outgoing Secretary General Hezron Obaga, who now assumes the role of party Executive Director.
Gachagua also named several new officials drawn from different regions in what appeared to be an attempt to project DCP as a national political outfit.
Among those appointed were Edgar Busiega from Kakamega as Secretary for Information and Technology, Leonard Cheruyoit from Narok as Secretary for Agriculture, Abdi Noor Mohamed from Wajir as chairperson of County Coordinating Committees and Wilson Kanyago Ndung’u as head of the Students’ caucus.
The NEC further tasked Senator Methu and Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia with leading DCP campaigns in the upcoming Ol Kalou by-election.
According to Gachagua, DCP currently has more than 4.5 million registered members internally, alongside thousands of aspirants seeking party tickets for gubernatorial, parliamentary, senate, and MCA positions.
He also accused the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties of frustrating defections from the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to DCP.
However, it was Gachagua’s comments on presidential security that triggered the sharpest political reactions.
While insisting he wanted President Ruto removed through the ballot in 2027 rather than violence, Gachagua claimed the President’s security arrangements had significantly weakened under Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
“We are deeply concerned on the security of Mr William Ruto as the President of Kenya,” he said.
Gachagua accused Murkomen of lacking the experience and seriousness required to manage national security, branding him “naïve, juvenile and childish.”
“The man only smiles when he has a new belt, a new gold watch or excessive attire. He cannot sit down and work or even coordinate a security meeting,” he claimed.
The former deputy president alleged that professional security officers had been sidelined and replaced by individuals selected along ethnic lines.
He further claimed that presidential security officers had gone for months without allowances, affecting morale within the security apparatus.
Gachagua referenced several recent incidents in which objects were allegedly hurled at President Ruto during public events in Migori, Kibra, Mombasa, and Wajir, saying the attacks pointed to worrying vulnerabilities around the Head of State.
He compared the situation to the 1994 assassination of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose plane crash triggered the Rwanda genocide.
“If anything happens to him, our nation could be destabilized,” Gachagua warned.
The remarks are likely to deepen tensions between Gachagua and the Kenya Kwanza administration, which has repeatedly accused the former deputy president of promoting divisive politics and ethnic mobilisation.
Since launching DCP last year, Gachagua has intensified opposition mobilisation efforts against Ruto’s government while working alongside other opposition figures including Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua, and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i in talks aimed at forming a united opposition front ahead of 2027.
The DCP leader has in recent months mounted aggressive criticism of the government over taxation, cost of living, insecurity, and alleged political intimidation.
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