Prayed for into office but hounded out by betrayal, this man Gachagua

Bishop Mark Kariuku Standing behind praying for Rachael Ruto, President William Ruto, Deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and his wife Dorcas pray during Ruto’s Inauguration as the 5th President of Kenya at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi on September 13, 2022. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

After several goofs in oath-taking, Rigathi Gachagua was finally sworn into office as the Deputy President on September 13, 2022.

Amid cheers from thousands of guests including international dignitaries, Gachagua repeated the recitation of the words as directed by then Chief Registrar of Judiciary Anne Amadi.

After he and President William Ruto were sworn in respectively, the ceremony was followed by powerful prayers from renowned men of God led by Bishop Mark Kariuki.

Little did Gachagua know that that very moment marked a turbulent political journey that would later see him haunted out of the same office.

Having campaigned together on a United Democratic Alliance party ticket, a political party in the Kenya Kwanza, the duo won in the first round after garnering 50.4 per cent of the vote and thus met the Constitutional threshold of 50 per cent plus one of the votes cast on Aug 9, 2022.

Gachagua well known as Riggy G, was a scandal-tainted political beginner when he rode an anti-establishment wave to become the deputy president, only to be impeached by the National Assembly two years after taking the oath.

The 59-year-old politician has seen his popular touch eroded by a battered economy and spiralling cost of living.

With the National Assembly’s verdict, Gachagua has been left exposed with his fate lying in the hands of the Senate in the latest drama to engulf Kenyan politics.

As the High Court dealt a last blow dashing his hopes, Gachagua’s dalliance with President William Ruto now goes through a very public breakdown.

On May 15, 2022, the Kenya Kwanza Alliance party leader William Ruto named Gachagua, then Mathira MP as his presidential mate after protracted and high-octane negations that spilt over 17 hours at his Karen residence.

But who is this man?

Mr Gachagua served as a Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County, between 2017 and 2022.

He joined politics in 2017 when he vied for the Mathira seat. Before then, little was known about him.

His brother, Nderitu Gachagua, was a household name in Nyeri who went against the grain in 2013 to become Nyeri governor flying the now-dissolved GNU party ticket.

Though his name was not felt in the public arena, those who knew him said he was a powerful figure during his brother’s tenure. He called the shots in the county administration.

A power broker, Gachagua ran the county when his brother fell ill. He ensured that the county government ran smoothly despite his brother’s absence as he was airlifted abroad for treatment in the UK.

Probably due to getting closer to the trappings of power, he threw his hat into the ring for the Mathira parliamentary seat in 2017 after his brother’s death. He beat politician Wambui Wamaranga to clinch the seat.

Gachagua once worked for retired President Uhuru Kenyatta as his assistant but became one of his harshest critics and a fierce defender of then Deputy President William Ruto. He ended up being the face of Tanga Tanga (a wing of Jubilee MPs allied to Ruto in Mt Kenya). Due to his deep pockets and outbursts against the government, he earned himself the title, of regional overseer of Ruto’s presidential campaign.

The Deputy President has served in government for most of his working life, starting as an administration officer shortly after completing his studies at the University of Nairobi.

He was then promoted to the position of District Officer III in the then Kirinyaga District.

Sources closer to him indicate that in 1991, he was moved to the Office of the President where he served as a personal assistant to the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Public Service.

Between 1993 and 1997, Gachagua was promoted to District Officer 1 and deployed to the then Kakamega and Laikipia districts.

In 1999, he took a break from the Public Service and went into private business before he returned to the Public Service as the personal assistant to Uhuru Kenyatta, who was then Minister for Local Government and later Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament.

Mr Gachagua served as Uhuru’s PA up to 2006 before he tossed himself into active politics where he was later elected as Mathira MP.

His dalliance with Uhuru faded after the famous March 2018 handshake between the President and ODM leader Raila Odinga when he claimed the president had betrayed his deputy.

He says his parents were Mau Mau freedom fighters.

The now embattled Deputy President schooled at Kabiruini Primary School and later joined Kianyaga Boys High School in Kirinyaga. He is also an alumnus of the University of  Nairobi where he pursued political science and Literature before joining Oklahoma University in the US.

When he jetted back into the country, Gachagua was employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1989 to 1992. He was sent to work as a District Officer (DO) in Molo where he got close to the country’s second President Daniel Moi. He once worked as a personal assistant to Head of Civil Service Philip Mbithi in the 1990s and among his briefs was writing speeches for the former President. It is perhaps the experience he got from working with Moi and Uhuru that he counted as attributes that would favour him as the best running mate for Ruto.

Those who know Gachagua say he is decisive and has a firm stand on political social and economic affairs.

His fame rose when Uhuru and Raila came up with the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). He led UDA stalwarts to oppose the recommendations in Mt Kenya region.

Gachagua claimed Uhuru was crafting a strategy to stay in power despite his term coming to an end in August. “He wants to remain in power but we will reject it. If he wants to be respected and if he doesn’t want his name to be dragged in the mud, let him retire honorably and follow the footsteps of his predecessor Mwai Kibaki,” Gachagua said.

In fundraisers that Ruto did not attend, Gachagua relayed his contributions and political message with utmost faithfulness. ‘Tanga Tanga’ troops also accompanied him to such harambees. He became clear that nothing or nobody would stand in the way of Mt Kenya getting the running mate slot. Not even the joining of then Amani National Coalition party leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetangula to the Kenya Kwanza coalition.

Two months earlier, Gachagua had a television interview said that the DP slot was reserved for Mt Kenya, remarks that led to discomfort within the coalition.

“As far as I’m concerned, Ruto is a presidential candidate and the running mate will come from the mountain at an appropriate time,” he said then.

At that time, the DP had to contend with challenges within the corridors of justice. In February of the same year, the Asset and Recovery Agency told the court he had no proof that Sh200 million in his bank account was legitimately sourced.

According to the agency, Gachagua’s three personal accounts conducted a series of suspicious debit transactions amounting to Sh7.3 billion and a total credit of Sh12.5 billion between 2013 and 2020 which they believed were proceeds of crime.

Gachagua was also in court fighting a Sh7.5 billion graft case around six counts of economic crimes, including conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption, money laundering and fraudulent acquisition of public property.

The authority said he received the money through three different bank accounts, in his name at Rafiki Microfinance Bank. He allegedly received the cash between 2013 and 2020 in  Nairobi.

But in 2023, the court allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the Sh7.4b graft case against Gachagua and nine others.

The DPP highlighted a lack of evidence in his application and blamed the DCI for the failure to complete investigations.

And for a man who was living a dream barely 10 years after trying out elective politics, his star is dimming as fast as it shone, and he could be spending his last days as the country’s second in command.

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

Gachagua, a heartbeat away from the presidency, is now staring at the end of his political career.

If the Senate upholds his impeachment by the National Assembly, Gachagua will never hold political office.