In 2017, what appeared to be an eternal bromance of political soulmates between Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto sparked a fallout between Kenya's President and deputy.
The duo had already served a 5-year term beginning in 2013, and their apparent friendship began to deteriorate after taking over the nation for a second time.
On August 9, 2018, Ruto publicly expressed his distrust in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which resulted from the President's March 2018 peace agreement with Odinga, his long-time opposition foe.
The initiative arose from Kenyatta and Odinga's famous public handshake, now known as "The Handshake."
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The political truce between the President and the opposition leader resulted in an open split between Ruto and Kenyatta, sparking an opposition movement within the government.
Differences between Ruto and Uhuru continued to surface in public during separate political gatherings and official State events, becoming particularly tense during the tumultuous 2022 elections.
Ruto and his unfamiliar running mate, Rigathi Gachagua, won the polls, which felt like fresh air.
Despite lacking Ruto's vivacious bromance with his previous boss, the duo took Kenya's reigns and started things. This came amid harsh criticism from Kenyans and some political quotas that the two lacked chemistry.
"I chose Gachagua because he cares about the common person. He is a hard-working man who has always faced challenges head on and I have confidence in him," Ruto once responded to why he chose Gachagua.
Clearing the air, he said: "People said that if Ruto picks me as his deputy I will cause trouble but that is not true. If you are brought up in a united family like I was, you cannot change when you are old. I am a man who has been in uniform (referring to his service as a District Officer) and the language I know is to say 'Yes Sir' to my boss."
After a year and eight months in office, the ghosts that haunted Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta have begun to hover over him and Gachagua.
There have been rumblings of unease in the Ruto-Gachagua camp, but the Pandora's box was opened this past weekend when the DP went on a rant about people attempting to cause a schism between him and the President.
In mid-May, it was rumored that Gachagua and Ruto were having a falling out, which was exacerbated when Gachagua went AWOL and did not attend several high-profile events hosted by the President.
At the time, Gachagua was conspicuously absent from crucial state functions, and speculation grew when Ex Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga turned down Uganda President Yoweri Museveni's three-day state visit to Kenya.
President Ruto was in Rwanda when Museveni left the country. Gachagua, was expected to see him off.
The DP was also absent during the tree-planting holiday, which Ruto and other government officials organized in various parts of the country.
Finally, during his former teacher's funeral, Gachagua broke his silence, explaining that he had taken a break to meditate, pray, and fast for the country inside the vast Mt. Kenya forest.
At a separate event, he clarified that there are no cracks in the Kenya Kwanza government, a statement made by his boss seven years ago when rumors of a falling out with Kenyatta surfaced.
Gachagua claimed that the rumors were spread by disgruntled leaders attempting to undermine his efforts to unite the Mt. Kenya region. Again, this is an almost exact quote from Ruto in 2018.
By the time we are publishing this articles Kenyan senators have voted to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office, despite his absence at his impeachment trial due to health issues, according to his lawyer. Gachagua, who is popularly known as Riggy G, was scheduled to defend himself before the Senate after pleading not guilty to 11 charges the previous day.
However, his lawyer informed the Senate that Gachagua was being treated for chest pains at The Karen Hospital and requested a postponement. Despite the request, senators decided to proceed with the trial in his absence, leading Gachagua's defense team to walk out in protest.
The senators' decision to move forward, even though they could have delayed proceedings until Saturday, underscored their determination to remove Gachagua from office. This follows months of tension between him and President William Ruto.
Last week, a significant majority of MPs in the National Assembly voted for his impeachment, which paved the way for his two-day Senate trial. Gachagua, a wealthy businessman from the influential Mount Kenya region, has called the impeachment a "political lynching."
