Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has rejected claims that he is a tribal politician, challenging the basis of such accusations against him.
During an interview with Kameme FM on Monday, March 17, 2025, Mr.Gachagua argued that those aligned with President William Ruto should be the last to make such claims, as they are the ones in positions of power, overseeing appointments and dismissals.
According to Gachagua, his political arrangement with Ruto was a straightforward agreement based on mutual benefit, not tribalism, and Ruto himself was the one churning out the vice by favouring his region in appointments while sidelining Mt. Kenya.
“We had an agreement, and there was no tribalism in honouring that agreement. We gave him votes, and in return, he gave us seats. No one accused Raila of tribalism when his allies received key government positions. Deborah was defended from being ousted, and no one called that tribalism. But when I defend our people, suddenly, I am labelled tribal,” Gachagua asserted.
He went further to lament that the same critics who now brand him tribal remained silent when allies of opposition leader Raila Odinga were given key positions in government.
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Citing an example, Gachagua referenced how the National Assembly Budget Committee that was previously chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro had been handed over to Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi.
He argued that such changes, which saw positions taken away from Mt Kenya leaders, pointed to a deliberate attempt to sideline the region.
“The Budget and Appropriations Committee was taken away from Ndindi Nyoro and given to Sam Atandi. This seat was in Mt Kenya, and he should have looked for someone else in Mt Kenya, but he took it elsewhere,” he asserted.
Grave mistake
Gachagua admitted that he had made a grave political miscalculation by leading Mt Kenya into the 2022 general election without a political party of their own.
He likened the situation to attending a wedding using another person’s invitation card, insisting that the region should have fielded its own political vehicle rather than fully trusting Ruto.
“It would have been better if we had a party as a tribe. And we made a mistake trusting him, thinking he would not betray us,” he said.
The former deputy president acknowledged that in the early days of the Kenya Kwanza administration, Ruto had kept his promise by awarding the region key ministries.
However, he opined that things took a turn when the appointments of principal secretaries were made, arguing that the president strategically ensured that his own region retained more influential roles.
“The ministries were given to us, but things changed later. The Ministry of Finance, Interior, Water, and Lands were all given to our people at first. But then he gave all the principal secretary positions to his region, and our people became flower girls,” he lamented.
Gachagua further claimed that the removal of Mt. Kenya leaders from key positions was a calculated purge that started subtly before becoming more apparent.
He recounted how he was sidelined when he initially spoke out against the dismissals and accused the president of orchestrating his downfall by turning cabinet secretaries against him.
“I once said so, and William Ruto shut me down. I had seen that he had started sending our people away from the government slowly by slowly. I used to police-mark him and ensure that our people could not be fired,” he remarked.
Gachagua stated that one of the dismissals that deeply concerned him was that of an individual named Mburu from a senior position at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
He argued that Mburu’s removal marked the beginning of a series of targeted dismissals aimed at weakening Mt. Kenya leaders within the government.
“The KRA seat had Mburur, and he fired him and gave it to someone else. And now our people have seen a lot of trouble,” he noted.
Gachagua recounted that his troubles within the government intensified after he openly expressed concerns about Mt. Kenya being sidelined.
He claimed that this was the point at which President Ruto began orchestrating his impeachment, starting by rallying the cabinet against him.
“The trouble for me started after I started faulting him for sidelining Mt Kenya people. That was when he started planning my impeachment. I called my cabinet and told them, but he called them and lied to them to rally against me,” Gachagua alleged.
He lamented that no other Mt. Kenya leader had spoken out against the dismissals, accusing them of staying silent as the purge continued.
According to him, the region had been systematically weakened within the government, leaving him as the sole voice challenging the injustices being inflicted upon them.
“Now he is not shy of firing Mt Kenya people. I never used to allow him to do that,” he declared.
