Riggy G: Quintessential man whose star glares, then dims

Deputy President shared a moment with a small-scale trader along Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa. [DPCS]

He was living a dream. Barely five years after trying out elective politics, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was on everyone’s lips as a possible running mate to Presidential candidate William Ruto.

Gachagua was the clearest favourite to clinch the running mate role in a field populated with more seasoned politicians. He came from the right backyard, Mount Kenya, and had pockets deep enough to support a political campaign.

It was no surprise that Gachagua beat Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to the coveted position, even after losing several votes by Mt Kenya lawmakers to decide on who would be Ruto’s deputy.

But his star is dimming as fast as it shone, and the DP could be spending his last days as the country’s second in command. Gachagua, a heartbeat away from the presidency, is staring at the end of his political career. If the Senate upholds his impeachment by the National Assembly, Gachagua will never hold political office.

It is unlikely that the DP will survive the Senate vote, meaning that the courts remain his last hope for survival.

But what happened to Gachagua, who now realises that ditching his Mathira constituency seat for the deputy presidency would have him flying too close to the sun?

Deal gone sour

His tormentors, led by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse who initiated Gachagua’s impeachment, argue that the DP’s tongue contributed the most to his impending ouster.

During Tuesday’s debate of the impeachment motion, Mutuse faulted Gachagua for likening Kenya to a company with shareholders. The DP’s counter-argument was that he had said that the Kenya Kwanza administration was the entity with shareholders, as agreed in the pre-election coalition agreement among founding partners.

Gachagua’s tongue also allegedly made him contradict his boss, attracting charges of insubordination. He would use it to sweep perceived enemies from his path. They included the Press, which the DP would accuse of discrediting him, the opposition, which Gachagua said was not welcome to dine with Kenya Kwanza and High Court Judge Esther Maina, who the DP accused of bias.

But Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi does not believe Gachagua’s woes involve his utterances.

“I suspect that this involves a deal gone sour between him and the President. If it was a mere disagreement over the DP’s utterances, we would have seen some dispute-resolution efforts. If I become a nuisance in Machakos, the governor will summon me and tell me I am going wrong. If that fails we could involve elders, the assembly or even the party,” he said, adding the rift between Ruto and Gachagua offers lessons for the nation.

Other enemies Gachagua saw included politicians from Mt Kenya who were allegedly trying to sow division in the region. Gachagua picked fights everywhere and he knew he was formidable enough to win them. His position as DP guaranteed him power over most.

Observers saw this as an undoing, cautioning that it would unsettle the President. It indeed did, and Ruto would often call out the DP for stirring ethnic divisions and early campaigns.

Ruto knew a few things about the latter, a trade he perfected during his nine-and-a-half-year stint as deputy president. Since 2013, the then DP held countless rallies, mostly within Mt Kenya, a region he successfully sought to inherit from former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

During their second term in office, Ruto’s activities unsettled his boss, who faulted him for loitering around the country instead of helping him work.