Night meetings as Ruto, Gachagua allies face off

President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua after a church service at Ndogino, Ndaragwa, Nyandarua County on July 14, 2024. [PCS, Standard]

The war of attrition between President William Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua has intensified with leaders allied to the two top resorting to guerilla tactics and night meetings.

Smarting from a weekend of heavy firepower where he was referred to as the viper on the wrist of President Ruto’s government, Gachagua’s allies on Monday night held a secret meeting attended by 52 MPs from the ruling United Democratic Alliance, ODM, Wiper party and others viewed as independent candidates.

In the meeting mobilised by Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru alias ‘Major Donk’ and which took place from 6pm to 9pm, plotted to shield Gachagua against any impeachment.

Sources said the leaders pledged to go on a charm offensive to defend Gachagua while members of Kenya Kwanza vowed to initiate a vote of no confidence against National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, the face of the anti-Gachagua campaign.

“We realised we have let MPs disrespect Gachagua for far too long and we shall soon start holding joint political meetings to respond to the political onslaught against Ruto’s allies,” an MP who attended the meeting, said.

While creating a nexus between the attacks by Ruto’s side, the MPs noted that the President was hiding behind his ‘attack dogs’ to undermine his deputy as those who undermine Gachagua do so in his presence but he has not rebuked them.

“We took great exemption that we have never attacked the President but only challenge our colleagues to stop disrespecting Gachagua. The most we have done is ask the President to call to order legislators and stop undermining his deputy. It is clear that Ruto is the one who unleashes them and for that reason, we shall also demand accountability from him going forward,” another MP said.

The ODM and UDA MPs who attended the meeting included those who had been aggrieved by inclusion of Raila Odinga into the Kenya Kwanza government as those in Opposition felt betrayed by their leader.

Part of their strategy include going bare knuckle against the President should he fail to tame his allies. They plan to target the Ruto-Raila political arrangement by whipping up emotions in Mt Kenya, just as the President did against former President Uhuru Kenyatta after the March 2018 handshake.

Gathiru said given that the President had shown the way by allowing the broad-based government, there was nothing wrong meeting MPs from other political formations.

“The President showed us that broad-based government is the way to go and when leaders from different political formations meet, we only do so in adherence to our political and party leader Ruto,” he said.

As Gachagua’s allies make their plans for a bruising political battle ahead, Ruto’s lieutenants intensified their  attack on Gachagua. Between Monday and Wednesday, Ruto allies were in different media houses attacking Gachagua.

On Monday, Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri was on Inooro TV, while on Monday night, Nyeri Town MP Dancun Maina was at Kameme TV in the evening.

Yesterday, Ichung’wah was on Spice FM where he described Gachagua as ‘vindictive, desperate, petty and grossly dangerous.’ Without giving evidence, Ichung’wah said Gachagua was to blame for the woes bedeviling the coffee, tea and milk sub-sectors claiming some people in government were responsible for unsold tea stocks valued at nearly Sh32 billion that have piled up at the Mombasa Tea Auction.

“There has been upheaval in the coffee sub-sector because there are some people demanding Sh3 on every kilo sold and that is why there has been uproar in places like Mathira and Baricho. Gachagua has convened all the coffee and tea sub-sector reforms and he should answer the questions farmers have raised,” Ichung’wah said.

He claimed the fights between Ruto and Gachagua began when the President stopped a certain vote to the office of the Deputy President since it was going into waste.

“Towards the end of last year, it was discovered that a lot of money, in form of a vote, in the office of the Deputy President was going to waste and when the President put a stop to it, fights began where he (Gachagua) started pushing for one-man one-vote one-shilling. This was a gimmick to get people to your side and look like the champion of the people’s interests while in the real sense you want to fight for your selfish interests,” he said.

The attacks were a carry over from Monday where President Ruto blasted Gachagua, insisting that Nairobi was cosmopolitan and belonged to all communities.