Gachagua: Lethal home and away

When impeached deputy president Rigathi Gachagua jetted out of the country on July 9 this year, there was a collective sigh of relief in President William Ruto's camp. At least the lethal injections of invective political poison the former DP had been liberally dishing out would be subside. It appears they were wrong, just as they were when they had him impeached i the hopes that this would ultimately neuter him. 

The speed at which a disgraced Gachagua found his voice and footing to launch a comeback that has continuously placed the administration he once deputised on the defensive is stuff for legends.

Gachagua packaged himself as an Opposition figure and a master of countering President Ruto in real time, at the same time coining slogans embarrassing the government and its leaders.

Despite his impeachment and removal from the leadership of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Gachagua has completely refused to fade away from the political arena.  Instead, he formed his own political vehicle and established a team of loyalists from both the National Assembly and Senate who assist him in punching hard against the Kenya Kwanza administration.

He has hauled at the floor of the National Assembly where an agitated  Leader of Majority Kimani described him as a dark man with a black heart, dark soul and very evil mind, as cheering MPs demanded that he be arrested for being a tribalist. Some MPs demanded that Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja explain to the nation why Gachagua was still a free man.

His abrasive and confrontational style of politics has seen him make hard-hitting statements against the government and its allies. In return, he has become the government’s bogeyman as all evils are now heaped on him, with Wamunyoro becoming an alias for people perceived to be anti-government. 

The Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader has continued to light fires locally and internationally.  He has disappointed Kapseret MP, Oscar Sudi who had posted," Shida ya Mt Kenya na Shetani wa Kenya amesafiri. Kenya Sasa itabaki kwa amani ( Mt Kenya's problem and Kenya's Satan is gone. The country can now be at peace. "

He has been firing salvos from 13566.2 kilometers in Kansas City, with the accuracy of a sniper, at his former boss even his (Gachagua's) sustained their attack crisscrossing the country spreading the Wantam (one-term) gospel, a move that has not augured well with the police officers who have been following them intending to disperse their meetings.

While in the US, Gachagua has claimed that he would hand over evidence against Ruto to the American government, claiming they were concerned with Ruto’s policies, which he said threaten world security and aims at stealing from public coffers. 

According to Gachagua, he was misusing his position to conduct businesses, a move he claimed had killed the local businesses and hence the economy. 

His allies, who include Deejay’s have been calling him to address revelers at night while his political allies have ensured that there is seamless communication between him and his followers in churches and funerals through phone calls.

Back home, his allies, led by Nyandarua Senator John Methu, have kept his anti-government messaging in Mt Kenya region as part of a wider strategy aimed at rocking the government out of the region.

To counter Gachagua, MPs allied to the government have on numerous occasions discussed him in parliament, calling for his arrest, while others suggested that he be denied access to the country once he comes back.

On Thursday, Mandera North MP Abdullahi Bashir claimed Gachagua was a threat to national security, saying he ought to be denied entry into Kenyan soil

“He is a security threat to Kenya and he should not set foot in this country. His statement about Ruto removing the vetting process to the people of Mandera imputes an improper motive and means that the people of Mandera are terrorists. He has profiled the Kenyans Somali community not one not twice not thrice, it is unfortunate that it is coming from him,” he said.

However, Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo wondered why MPs have always wasted time on a leader who was to become a non-entity after his impeachment.

“I’m always baffled when we keep on wasting valuable parliamentary time on someone who does not sit here in Parliament and whom we were told that within two weeks after impeachment, he would be a non-entity, inconsequential, he would not be able to move. I wonder what is the obsession, what is the panic, what is the bile just ignore him and move on,” the MP said.

Political analysts believe Gachagua has attracted criticism from the government quarters because his messaging was a thorn in the flesh of the government and that he resonated well with the populace.

According to Prof Macharia Munene, Gachagua’s good mouth and oratory skills were working against the government, a move he said made him the de facto Opposition leader.

“He is also an orator and that gives him the advantage, then he has courage. When you have somebody who is an orator, courageous and is able to mobilise, especially against somebody, then he becomes the center of shaping political narratives. What he says is what many people would want to say but they are unable to do so. He contrasts Kalonzo because of his courage,’ Prof Munene.

 Herman Manyora observed that Gachagua was on his own political lane as he had been able to decampaign the government both locally and internationally, becoming the point of reference for government officials.

“We have never seen a Kenyan go to America and do the things Gachagua is doing and get the reception he is getting. We are being treated to the things we have never seen before. The visit has increased his stature; he is now beginning to look bigger than big. His political movers have sent panic in the whole government.”

 He added, “The tour is helping work on his image with all the success of uniting the mountain because in the recent past, Gachagua has not presented an image of a Presidential material. The people who support and celebrate him have not looked at him with the eyes of the Presidential candidate, and this is what his tour seeks to create.”

However, Joshua Nyamori, a political analyst who supports the Kenya Kwanza administration, dismissed the narrative that Gachagua had presented himself as the main opposition figure, dismissing him as a passing cloud.

“He has not changed the perception that he is a tribal leader, even during his tour in the US. He is trying to build an empire around ‘Mlima’; in every message he utters, he continues to alienate the people of Kenya. He continues to pull the crowds not because people believe in him but because he is a drama king. It’s like a madman in the market would attract many people unlike a smartly dressed man,” he added.

However, Njeri Kahiga, a Nyandarua-based politician, differs and believes that Gachagua’s two-pronged political strategy of hitting the government while in the US, while his allies continue to criticize the government, presents him as a political strategist.

 “The United Opposition has not been on rallies since Gachagua left to The US and although we are in the Opposition, we can’t curtail ourselves to move with the speed of others so as not to be labeled a dictator,” she said in relation to claims that Gachagua was out to lock Mt Kenya region from other parties including the Opposition allied such as Jubilee and Party of National Unity (PNU).