The Peter Principle As A Theory Of Decline: Was Rigathi Gachagua Promoted To His Level Of Incompetence?
Hez Gikang’a
By Hez Gikang’a
Worth Noting:
- Was RiggyG promoted too fast, too soon to his level of incompetence, and became a square peg in a round hole? Developed by Peter Hull, a Canadian educator and author, and Raymond Hull, an English-born Canadian playwright, in the 1960s and early 1970s, and investigated by other scholars and practitioners since then, the Peter Principle simply posits that a person who is competent at their job will earn a promotion to a position that requires different skills until they reach a level at which they are incompetent.
- They remain stuck here, a situation famously called Peter’s plateau. They may be fired, opt to retire or leave for other opportunities elsewhere. Does this spectacular incompetence explain RiggG’s calamitous term as DP?
As the curtain falls on 2024, the political melodrama that defines this year is the spectacular fall of one Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua aka The Truthful Man, also popularly known as Riggy-G, who suffered the ignominy of being the first Deputy President to be impeached under the 2010 constitution.
This development continues to dominate political banter and social interactions weeks after. Opinions are split on what this means for Kenya’s political landscape to 2027 and beyond, as the political maestro that is President Ruto continues to rearrange the political chessboards, in readiness for a battle royale with his former Deputy turned nemesis.
How will it end, and who will have the last laugh?
There is all manner of speculation and explanations advanced by pundits and citizens alike on what led to RiggyG’s fall, whether it was unavoidable, and what lessons should learn.
I endeavor to dissect the play from a management perspective, using the Peter Principle.
Was RiggyG promoted too fast, too soon to his level of incompetence, and became a square peg in a round hole? Developed by Peter Hull, a Canadian educator and author, and Raymond Hull, an English-born Canadian playwright, in the 1960s and early 1970s, and investigated by other scholars and practitioners since then, the Peter Principle simply posits that a person who is competent at their job will earn a promotion to a position that requires different skills until they reach a level at which they are incompetent.
They remain stuck here, a situation famously called Peter’s plateau. They may be fired, opt to retire or leave for other opportunities elsewhere. Does this spectacular incompetence explain RiggG’s calamitous term as DP?
RiggyG was a one-term legislator for Mathira constituency when he bagged the UDA ticket as Dr. William Ruto’s running mate in 2022, after hours of a seemingly messy political standoff in mid-May 2022 that threatened to unravel Ruto’s well-oiled and messaged campaign that appealed to hustlers and set Mt. Kenya on fire.
While I am not privy to the discussions that took place at the then DP Ruto’s official residence in Karen when the legislative election candidates from Mt. Kenya met (the position had been reserved for this vote-rich bloc), multiple reports indicate that he was not the odds-on favorite.
Indeed, it was his successor as DP, Prof. Abraham Kithure Kindiki who was. It is said that the Truthful man only gathered 3 votes against Kindiki’s 43 when the vote was called.
Then, like now, he would have none of it. He walked out in a huff. It’s always is his way, or the highway. Other potential names that were floated to try break the impasse then were current Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru and current CS for Public Service and Performance Management, former AG Justin Bedan Muturi, these were apparently dropped as they had joined the party, and coalition later in the day. RiggyG, was a founder shareholder, and he had the minted keys to the shiny new toy that was UDA and the evolving Kenya Kwanza coalition, or so he thought. How RiggyG eventually carried the day is the stuff of lore, but his comeuppance would come sooner than he later. Maybe this reality was hiding in plain sight, except to him, after all?
The legislators who attended the multiple meetings cited his inexperience having served one-term experience in the against house prior to, and therefore lacked the capacity to be the able Principal Assistant to an extremely hardworking and always-on Head of State and government who was committed to transforming Kenya through the bottom-up economic transformation agenda; that because of abrasiveness and ethnic blinkers, he lacked the chutzpah, finesse and diplomatic skills needed to build consensus and inclusivity both within and without the party, and a government that aspired to serve all Kenyans, inspite of their political affiliation or ethnicity; and that the many scandals that have dogged him throughout his career were put-offs that would stain the party and government having promised their enthusiastic supporters a clean break with the past.
RiggyG, ever the rodeo rider that he is, vociferously fought back these claims by stating that having served as a District Officer in Molo and Laikipia during the difficult days of Moi’s rule, he had the experience and demeanor to deputize the president as he succinctly understood the inner workings of the public service and government. He had also served as the PA to former powerful Head of the Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet during late President Moi’s time, Prof. Philip Mbithi. But these are vastly different times. The 2010 constitution fundamentally recrafted the state, grossly expanding citizens’ rights and the democratic space. Demographics have also changed – a mobile-first Gen Zs and millennials cohort, accounting for 70% of our population have no bandwidth for autocracy. The oppressive command-and-control structures and ethos that he was used to had long been buried in the cesspool of political history, and given way to other more citizen-centric and accountable systems.
Fast forward to October 2024, when the murmurings of his overbearing attitude, divisive ethnic talk, gross insubordination, sabotage, money laundering and sudden wealth, disinheriting his late brother’s family of their inheritance, and undermining constitutional offices crystallized in an impeachment motion that cut short his short-lived career in the second-highest office in the land.
In between his ascension to the high office, and this new low, RiggyG, like the proverbial colossus, bestrode the country, issuing official decrees, flexing putative political muscles, bullying both elected and appointed officers, pontificating from his bully pulpit about shareholders and his sole allegiance to the murima, not the oath of office or the constitution.
When the vote on the impeachment motion in the national assembly was called, RiggyG had 44 for him, while 281 voted to impeach him, exceeding the two thirds constitutional threshold. The same fate awaited him the senate. How can you alienate so many people in such a short time? A whooping 236 MPs voted for Dr. Kindiki, his nemesis, to replace him. None dissented. Is this a vindication of the Peter Principle, was it random fate, hubris, the wrath of the gods, all, or none?
Is this not the last chapter in such a colorful character’s life?
He is now the king of gripe against the very same state and government that he was equal shareholder of, and that he swore to serve and protect.
Only now that the script is not about him, for now, apparently. Ever the political schemer that he, he has flipped the script, and become the messiah. How long he withstands the oncoming political onslaught, and an equally restive Mt. Kenya audience, two and a half years to an election, without the vast state resources that he previously enjoyed is anyone’s guess.
This very same audience applauds the president for nominating their decorated sons and daughters to high offices in the public service, and expects the newly nominated A-listers like Peter Kenneth, Lee Kinyanjui, Kaba Kabogo, Mutahi Kagwe, Ndiritu Muriith and Mwangi wa Iria to hit the ground running and fix the issues affecting Kenyans rather than the daily lamentations and tantrums thrown by RiggyG.
This will be the story of 2025 and beyond. These are truly consequential times for Kenya.
Hez Gikang’a is a Nairobi-based political strategist and strategic communications professional
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