Silence Falls Among Gachagua’s Allies as Impeachment Leaves DP in Political Isolation
The surprise is that most of the DP’s allies who vowed “consequences” for anyone who dared to remove their man from office have gone mum as Gachagua fights what appears to be a lonely court battle.
Other analysts even questioned whether Gachagua could mount any consequential political duel against his estranged boss, President William Ruto, should the courts uphold his removal from office.
This is Impeached DP Rigathi Gachagua, wife Dorcas Rigathi, and other prominent leaders during a church service.
Bravado has waned among allies of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua a week after the dramatic impeachment of the country’s second in command.
Most of the DP’s known allies who had threatened “consequences” should anyone dare attempt removing their man from office have gone silent as Gachagua fights what looks like a lonely court battle.
Some analysts question if Gachagua would mount any consequential political duel against his estranged boss, President William Ruto, in the case of the courts upholding his removal from office.
Worse still, he stands barred from permanently holding public office. He denies abuse of office, undermining the President, divisive tribalism, and corruption.
The Senate upheld impeachment charges while Gachagua was in hospital for intense chest pains, and he was denied a chance to answer charges.
Notable figures in the DP’s camp who dared Ruto to go for Gachagua include Nyeri Governor Kahiga Mutahi. However, since the removal of the DP, the usually loud governor is yet to say anything.
Embakasi MP Benjamin Gathiru, popularly known as Mejjadonk, however dismissed claims that Gachagua’s brigade has strategically gone silent.
He said they were waiting for the court verdict —on impeachment and swearing in a new DP —and warned that the silence of Mt Kenya people must not be mistaken for cowardice or inaction.
Most Mt. Kenya voters are silent because it is their nature when they are fed up. ey only make noise when there is room for change,” the MP told the Star. “They are waiting for the appropriate time to act-that is during voting.
Gathiru said: “While critics question their current silence, Mt Kenya MPs who voted against Gachagua can’t visit their constituencies for fear of physical backlash and reprisal for opposing their man from Nyeri.”.
He equated the removal of Gachagua to the Jubilee era when President Uhuru Kenyatta and his men unleashed the state machinery against Ruto, who overcame them to become President with Gachgua helping him win over Mt. Kenya voters.
“Gachagua too will overcome and emerge victorious,” he told the Star, adding that people are with them.
In the National Assembly, 44 MPs voted to save Gachagua while 282 others voted to remove him. At the Senate, 54 senators out of the 67 present voted to uphold charges against him, thereby impeaching Gachagua.
The Ruto team has adopted a multi-pronged approach to nail the DP, who had styled himself king of Mt Kenya and treasurer of its votes, besides replacing Gachagua with Interior CS Kindiki Kithure.
All indications are that allies of Gachagua holding parliamentary leadership positions may be shown the door. And Gachagua may be taken to court to face criminal charges over claims of graft.
Does all this translate to saving their own skin by disassociating themselves from him? Last week, the DCI invited Gachagua to record a statement after he alleged two attempts by state operatives to poison him. He did not appear for the questioning.
Besides Governor Kahiga, Embakasi North MP James Gakuya and a host of senators who initially supported the DP are also conspicuous by their absence.
Little, if nothing at all, is heard of the politicos who recently defected to the Gachagua camp as the onslaught against the DP gathered steam.
They include Gatanga MP Edward Muriu, Starehe MP Amos Mwago, Maragua’s Mary Wamaua, Nyeri Woman MP Rahab Mukami, her Embu counterpart Pamela Njoki and Tetu MP Geoffrey Wandeto.
Others are Juja’s George Koimburi, Kandara MP Njuguna Chege. Kangema’s Peter Kihungi, Munyoro Joseph of Kigumo, and Wanjiku Muhia of Kipipiri.
But Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang’wa and Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba have not gone to ground but have sustained their tirades against Ruto.
This was after Wamuchomba on Saturday issued a statement saying under Ruto, “the soul of the country is systematically being destroyed” and Kenya is “teetering to authoritarianism”.
“In my community, the traitors, collaborators, home guards and informers who betrayed people were ostracised and hanged. Worse still, their generation were cursed,” she said in an apparent reference to Mt Kenya MPs who voted against Gachagua.
As the clock ticks into the 2027 polls, many alignments and realignments would take place, observes Anderson Ojwang, a political commentator.
“Politics is a matter of interest. There are no permanent interests. Some of the DP’s allies were either close to receiving benefi ts that accrue to them directly,” he said.
The dynamics have changed, and some would likely run and align with Ruto for their own benefits, while others who were not allies of the DP would side with him to be elected by a furious Mt Kenya electorate,” said Ojwang.
MP Ojwang explained that the MPs standing with Gachagua may reap big politically from that position, adding that the predicament Gachagua has gotten himself into makes him a hero in the eyes of the Mt. Kenya people.
“He is the new Raila (Odinga) of Mt Kenya. He is the de facto leader. His suffering has made Mt Kenya people align with him. He has come out as brave and has made the community identify with him as their ‘njamba’ [hero, warrior],” the analyst said.
But the big question is whether the remnants of the Gachagua camp can mount and sustain a political war since their numbers are considered non-threatening.
According to political analyst Javas Bigambo, fighting for Gachagua at this time wouldn’t be a walk in the park and some would fall by the wayside.
This, he says is especially true, after debunking “the absurdly fictional assumption” that they were politically indispensable.
“Gachagua has to recreate himself, and so does his allies. The dynamics of the next two years are going to be consequential on both sides. Some are going to drown and never recover,” Bigambo said.
“If Gachagua loses, his confidants will be dragged in with him. Without the trappings of power, he could end up like Kalonzo Musyoka, an asterisk in politics, a name only and nothing more, no impact or consequence to national election outcomes,” he added.
“Gachagua dug his grave, now he has to bury himself,” Bigambo said. The DP’s allies, those not in hiding out of self-interest or supposed strategy,
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