Ruto and Gachagua two years of 'unanswered prayers'

President Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua at State House Nairobi June 13, 2023. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

From brotherhood prayers to a bitter fallout - that is the short story of President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua, the faith warriors whose convictions moved mountains. But now a mountain stands between them owing to the differences brought about by living their fears.

The duo claimed that theirs was a bromance was made in heaven -- prayed into State House by men of God chaperoned by their pious spouses and therefore needed no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reference their brotherhood -- but 24 months later, they are like Tom and Jerry, the TV cartoon characters who are forever bickering and plotting to annihilate each other by setting traps that most of the times backfire.

Their brotherhood is shaken. They have been through impeachment allegations and plots to overthrow the government. Gachagua’s future in President Ruto’s scheme of things seems at best uncertain but at worst non-existent. And the restive Mt Kenya is watching, divided and unsure who to believe or follow.

On April 16, 2021, Ruto -- who was a deputy president -- lamented that he was under attack from individuals close to Uhuru Kenyatta and the Head of State himself had failed to tame the said persons, leaving him humiliated.

He vowed that should he become president, he would never allow such a thing. “Very many deputy presidents have been fought. It is an unfortunate situation. Given an opportunity, I would not allow my deputy president to be humiliated the way former (deputy) presidents have been humiliated and the way I have been humiliated,” said Ruto.

At some point, Ruto claimed that his roles had been transferred to then Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i even as he chided Cabinet Secretaries for undermining him.

Gachagua exuded confidence that he had entered into a gentleman’s agreement with Ruto, adding that there was no need of entering into an MoU with Ruto as he was trustworthy, honest and a gentleman.

While it took Uhuru and Ruto seven years for their union to disintegrate, it has taken Ruto and Gachagua only two years for the UhuRuto script to repeat itself.

On the eve of Kenya Kwanza’s second anniversary on Friday, the proxy wars took a new twist after a group of 48 MPs and senators from Mt Kenya East declared their support for Interior Cabinet minister Kindiki Kithure.

Prof Kindiki, who, too, was a victim of the war between Uhuru and Ruto, has now taken the place of his predecessor Dr Matiang’i to checkmate Gachagua. And just like the leaders in the Jubilee government pledged their support for Matiang,i, UDA MPs led by National Assembly leader Kimani Ichung’wah have registered their allegiance to the Interior CS.

In what has been interpreted as a larger scheme in the fight between President Ruto and his deputy, the Mt Kenya East leaders claimed that there was a need for a strong linkage between Mt Kenya East and the Executive to fast-track their region’s priorities.

“Through collaboration and constant dialogue, we are confident that Mount Kenya East will progressively secure a stronger recognition in the national agenda,” they said in a statement read by Mbeere MP Geoffrey Ruku

On Friday, the 48-member caucus led by Ichung’wah, while naming Kindiki as their leader, claimed that their efforts to consolidate the developmental needs had been frustrated by the ‘lack of a focal point of reference around whom we can channel the interests and priorities of our people to the Government for actualisation’.

“Instead, the Mt Kenya region has suffered high octane politics around phantom unity to support individual and personal ambitions rather than the articulation, pursuit and lobbying of the interests of our constituents,” the leaders said.

The MPs seemed to suggest that Prof Kindiki should help execute some of the roles Gachagua’s office was assigned via Executive Order Number 1, especially duties to cater for reforms in the agriculture sub-sector.

As the anti-Gachagua MPs grouped and named Prof Kindiki as their bridge to the President, some members of the Cabinet including Environment CS Aden Duale have also joined the fray.

Duale, who spoke during a ceremony at the Londiani Forestry College, said it was unfortunate that some of the top politicians in Kenya Kwanza had resorted to disrespecting and undermining Ruto, in a seemingly veiled attack directed at Gachagua.

“I want to tell UDA leaders to respect the President regardless of the position you hold in government. A God-fearing and decent leader must respect those in authority. Respect others and you will be respected. We campaigned together and collectively committed to the manifesto and we must therefore stay focused on the mission of delivering for Kenyans.”

Reacting to the recent developments, Gachagua on Friday called on the region to ignore the 48 MPs as “they were being used by external forces to divide Mt Kenya region.”

“Everybody can see what is happening... we are not foolish people. The election period is over, let us leaders from the Mt Kenya region unite and bring development projects to the region,” he said.

Gachagua urged residents to instead focus on the leaders who are bringing development.

The DP’s allies have wondered how Ichung’wah, who is the leader of government business in the National Assembly, has donated his powers to an appointee of the Executive. 

According to Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru, the MPs’ move exposed them as confused leaders.

“We are elected by the people to make laws, a single MP is more powerful than any of the State’s appointees. Do they want to claim that they cannot present a Bill that seeks to bring development or can’t lobby a development without the input of Kindiki? Do they also want Kindiki to abandon his role as Interior CS to also deal with agriculture and roads in Mt Kenya?” posed Gathiru.

Gatanga MP Edward Muriu, a harsh critic-turned-defender of Gachagua, dismissed Ichung’wah claiming that no one had sent them to look for a kingpin. He said the history of Mt Kenya region was that “leaders follow their electorate and not vice versa”.

“I was invited to the meeting on Wednesday night but I decided that I would not sell my conscience. They had promised us money but I have plenty of money. We should not interfere with Ruto and Gachagua fights but we should focus on development,” said Muriu, who is also UDA’s legal affairs secretary.

Questionable opinion poll

On his part, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara claimed that there was an effort to split Mt Kenya region in a bid to cut into size the deputy president, and warned leaders ‘who were being used to advance the narrative.’

“This region is only politically safe when it stays united. ODM entered government only because of its number,” she said.

Kigumo MP James Munyoro was unimpressed by the sibling rivalry and said: “We have reached a point where certain discussions have been taken too far. It is untenable to claim loyalty to this government while simultaneously contributing to its potential destabilisation.”

On Friday, a questionable opinion poll conducted in Mt Kenya by a little-known pollster and circulated by State House operatives indicated that Kindiki was more popular than Gachagua. 

In the poll, which was coincidentally done on September 9 and 10 when a section of Mt Kenya East MPs declared Kindiki as their kingpin, the Interior CS’ popularity was put at over 60 per cent and Gachagua’s in the low 20s.

The poll also highlighted key issues that were apparently of high concern such as alcoholism, unemployment, corruption, cash crops and infrastructure, and that 65 per cent of respondents wanted Kindiki to lobby for them -- same as the wishes of the caucus of MPs.

The report had inconsistencies on the highest concerns of the respondents in specific counties as the data illustrated by graphics is at variance with the ‘regional variance’ section.

The fights between Ruto and his deputy have been escalated by the entry of Raila Odinga into government, an uncanny parallel to the Handshake that strained the relations between Uhuru and Ruto.