In a fiery public address following his impeachment, Kenya’s former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, has accused President William Ruto of orchestrating a campaign of “persecution” and even attempting to take his life. Gachagua, who spoke just after being discharged from Karen Hospital in Nairobi, described the past year as a period of relentless pressure and threats.
Gachagua’s security, he claimed, was withdrawn as he battled a life-threatening condition. “I want Kenyans to know that as I go home, I have no security. If anything happens to me or my family, President Ruto must be held accountable,” he warned. He accused the president of blatantly violating a court order that temporarily barred his replacement as deputy president. Despite this legal protection, Gachagua says his security detail was “viciously” taken away.
Reflecting on the Senate’s vote on October 17, which resulted in his impeachment, Gachagua labeled the event the culmination of a year-long struggle against what he calls “continual persecution.” He compared his experience to that of the late Kenneth Matiba, a prominent Kenyan politician who suffered a stroke after enduring severe political repression under the regime of President Daniel arap Moi. “President William Ruto wanted me to follow the same path. He pushed Matiba to the brink, and he’s been doing the same to me,” Gachagua alleged.
The most shocking of Gachagua’s accusations came in the form of claims that undercover agents had attempted to assassinate him. On August 30, during a visit to Kisumu, he says security agents infiltrated his hotel room and attempted to poison his food. Gachagua stated that he and his team were able to detect the plot just in time. “I was supposed to be killed by food poisoning,” he asserted. He further alleged that on September 3, another group of National Intelligence Service agents tried to poison a meal intended for him and the Kikuyu Council of Elders during a gathering in Nyeri.
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As Gachagua recovers from his health scare, he dismissed the 11 charges brought against him during the impeachment trial as baseless and politically motivated. “It was nothing but malice and fiction—a political game by the president to get rid of me,” he said. Gachagua suggested that Ruto had never intended to work with him and only utilized his influence to secure votes during the election. “I think he just needed me to help him win the election because of my mobilization capacity and the faith the Mount Kenya region has in me.”
Throughout his speech, Gachagua painted himself as a victim of political manipulation, insisting that his only crime was his commitment to speaking the truth. “I am the only elected official in the president’s cabinet who could tell the truth, and that’s what he couldn’t tolerate,” he claimed.
As of now, President Ruto has not publicly responded to these serious allegations. However, the nation remains divided, with mixed reactions to Gachagua’s impeachment and the dramatic claims he has since made. The political landscape in Kenya appears increasingly fractured as tensions between the two former allies reach new heights.