Gachagua: 'I'll take the bull by its horns'

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on February 2, 2025, warned President William Ruto against hurling his way negative vibes during political rallies, saying he will be hitting back in kind.

Naivasha MP Ms Jayne Kihara sympathised with President Ruto saying "it is now clear that Ruto did not have an idea of who and what exactly Gachagua was even when he was picking him as his running mate. He now knows better...but he asked for it".

Mr Gachagua who was impeached in October 2024, was speaking in Mathioya Constituency in Murang'a County where he also claimed that "the Executive has rolled out a bribery spree in Mt Kenya to win back lost support".

Mr Gachagua said his task of guiding Mt Kenya is becoming intricate by the day as President Ruto and allies fights him. 

"You cannot confuse me. You cannot sell fear to me. You know me very well but of course you forget. You are my business for now," he said.

Mr Gachagua, supported by Kiru MCA Mr Morris Thuku in bowing that President Ruto will not get agents in Mt Kenya to monitor his reelection bid in 2027 said he will not be responding to President Ruto's attack dogs "rather, I will be isolating you for counterattack".

He demonstrated his threat by dismissing President Ruto as "a man of pretenses and illogical ambitions".

He said "this is a president who is pretending to keep peace in DR Congo, yet here at home he is leading a government that is murdering the young population". 

He said "yours is a government that is cooperating with criminal gangs yet you are sending police to Haiti to battle criminal gangs".

Citing a recent incident where in Kirinyaga County a clash between suspected Mungiki adherents has resulted into three deaths, he said "the government is setting a trap for Mt Kenya people to fight each other so that the president can later come here and deceptively play the peacemaker".

Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu had reported that "this government has murdered our child in Murang'a, an orphan called Dennis Mwangi 28, who was the only hope for his elderly and ailing grandmother. That is gross".

Mr Mwangi was reported abducted on December 8, 2024, only to be identified from the freezers of City Mortuary on January 31, 2025.

Gatanga MP Edward Muriu said "we should abandon calls for the formation of a Commission of inquiry about abductions, engorged disappearances and extrajudicial killings since we know the killers are the government...the government is the one to appoint those to serve in the commission...the government cannot probe its murderous trait".

Mr Gachagua said "I must remain focused to know who is sending the attack dogs with their insults and idle talk...My focus is their master and there will be no escape route".

He said: "I'll never trade words with Ruto's attack dogs. I will train my guns on Ruto himself. He sends them to insult me together with my community and he the president as their master pays the price. I will respond to him in equal measure, more lethal venom".

He dismissed all those from Mt Kenya who impeached him as fools not fit for reelection in 2027.

"All those who impeached me are fools. They took Sh10 million bribe to impeach me. Today, they have no ground to visit. Yet, president Ruto who was financing them can today visit other regions," he said.

He added that "those who impeached me are stranded. All those traitors need to be taught a lifetime lesson. Vote all of them out so that in 50 years to come none of Mugikuyu will ever think of betraying our house of Gikuyu and Mumbi".

He added that "all regions want to be part of us...We must be very careful. I don't want to repeat my mistakes of 2022 where I rushed you to an unstructured engagement with Dr William Ruto, but his administration is a billboard of thanklessness to us".

Taking cue from Mr Gachagua who has been urging Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro to declare his political stand especially in the mountain, Maragua MP Mary wa Maua urged "all fence sitters in Mt Kenya to declare their stand". 

She said that "we want to know the population of servicemen and servicewomen in the Wamunyoro battalion. This time round we will not embrace John come late".

Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata who also has been accused of fence sitting sent tongues wagging when his right hand man Mr Noah Gachucha accompanied a delegation of more than 20 MCAs to Wamunyoro last week.

Mr Gachucha has been Dr Kang'ata's personal assistant and currently is the chief executive officer in the County's Youth, Sports and Culture docket.

Mr Gachucha said "we are committed loyalists to what our people want in both politics and development".

Mr Gachagua urged Mt Kenya voting block to remain united and keep the faith ahead of 2027 General Elections saying "I will now issue an interim direction for my people on February 9, 2025".

He said top on his agenda is to craft a national movement that will kick out President Ruto out of power and among other things, save payslip holders from oppression.

"I will restore the dignity of the payslip. We are going to deal with the raiding of the payslip politically. We will abolish those levies that have been put there by force. There is hope. The payslip invasion must be rescued by all what it takes," he said.

Mr Gachagua apologised for reneging on his earlier promise of issuing the directive by close of January 2025.

"On Sunday, February 9, 2025 I will gather all Mt Kenya vernacular media stations together so that they can air my interim report about where we should go...and also ask you for more time to enable me continue listening to more views," he said.

He said he has missed his January headline because of "overwhelming interest that I have received from regions".

He said: "I'm late in announcing the Mt Kenya directive. I'm sorry. I thought it is only the Mountain that is interested. The goodwill is overwhelming because we are getting interest from across the country".

He said recent ground visits by President Ruto loyalists led by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki are being used "to dish out blood money to citizens".

He urged area people to "take the money, eat it and remain true to our opposition cause". 

He urged President Ruto allies to "bring the money, the elephant will not be buried with the tusks, the cow won't die with its milk". 

He said that Mr Kindiki recently went with sacks of money in the region.

"Thank you for the Sh15 million you left in Embu, the Sh1,000 and half loaf of bread plus soda that you were giving those you ferried to cheer for you," Mr Gachagua said. 

He chided his successor for “keeping his audiences in long anxieties while tiring them with useless speeches”.

"Don't keep the residents longer in your meetings. Give them money and leave," he said.

However, he urged recipients of the cash to be cautious.

"The money they are giving you is blood money. It is abduction money. It is also sourced from corrupt deals. Once you receive it, don't use it to invest. Don't mix it with your clean cash. Don't pay school fees with that cash. It is to be eaten and if possible, it should not last a day," he said. 

He said the Deputy President's official residence at Nairobi's Karen estate has become a ‘bribery zone’ where Mt Kenya actors are being called upon to be bribed to win them back into government.

"Money that is meant for development is being diverted to corrupt activities. Karen is a crime scene. School buses are being used to ferry hired audiences to meetings in Mt Kenya region," he said.

Ms Kihara and Maua told off Environment CS Aden Duale for calling on Public Service CS Justin Muturi to resign.

Mr Muturi has been on an attack spree against his boss and the government in the abductions saga.

The two(2) leaders told Mr Duale that he has no moral authority to tell Mr Muturi to resign.

"The constitution is very clear: Go tell your boss to do what is supposed to be done to those who go against his appointment terms. The constitution does not tell anyone to resign," said Ms Maua.