Gachagua's goose appears cooked, but confidants remain optimistic

The rapid rise of Rigathi Gachagua from a junior administrator to the country's besieged second in command now risk ending in tears unless he plays his cards with utmost tact.

Facing threats of censure and impeachment, Gachagua's goose appears cooked, but his confidants remain optimistic.

"Gachagua's fall plotters should settle on another thought. The greatest mistake they made was to think he was a thoughtless fool vulnerable to pushover tactics," said Laikipia Senator John Kinyua.

He said "Gachagua's rise to his current status was not by accident, rather was a culmination of events of hard work, resilience, tact, and shrewdness".

Currently, Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung'wah brands DP Gachagua as "isolationist, self serving, brute and blackmailing agent against President William Ruto's government".

Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri dismisses Mr Gachagua as "abusive, manipulator, poor decision maker, greedy, and self hurting politician".

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has since dismissed Mr Gachagua as “regionalist, crybaby and tribal propagandist who leaves divisions and social tensions in his wake”.

Tana River Senator Danston Mungatana already tabling motion of censure against him.

Political Scientist Gasper Odhiambo says if it were perceptions that applied in picking second in command, Mr Gachagua would have fallen with the first ballot cast.

"For a man whose nomination by Dr Ruto came with so much conflict in the Mt Kenya region, how he shrugged off the setbacks and soldiered on to become victorious against the then favourite, Kithure Kindiki, was novel," Mr Odhiambo said.

He argues that "the magnitude of confusion that Mr Gachagua managed to create around the nomination of a running mate and eventually carrying the day for Dr Ruto who had everything to fear in his contest against state sponsored Raila Odinga, tells a story about this truthful man".

As we speak, the 58-year-old Gachagua is just a heartbeat to ultimate power, but fighting a war of his lifetime to remain in office and relevant in the political discourse.

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga says DP Gachagua loves stability in governance and his county is testament to that.

“In 2016, this county plunged into uncertainty when Nderitu Gachagua as governor developed health complications that eventually led to his death on February 24, 2017, at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London while undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer,” Governor Kahiga said.

He added that it was his brother Rigathi who stepped in and cooled tensions by discreetly managing stability in the county until Deputy Governor Samuel Wamathai was sworn in.

"That is when Nyeri County realized that it had a leader who loved stability and had immense leadership skills. It was not a surprise to us that he ended up being the Deputy President. I can even surprise you by saying pointblank that Gachagua is presidential material," he said.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) don Charles Mwangi says "Dr Ruto appeared to have intelligence report that numbers were favouring his presidential bid and he was investing on a Deputy President he thought was weaker and disposable".

He said Mr Gachagua, "was being propelled to national limelight by Dr Ruto for reasons that had nothing to do with merit but about future consolidation of power and crafting a reelection plan--an easy disposal".

But former Bahati MP Mr Kimani Ngunjiri refutes, saying the picking of Mr Gachagua was not as simple as many want to put it, but was an investment in mettle.

"He came into the fight with finances that Dr Ruto desperately needed given that he was contesting against several billionaires (Uhuru Kenyatta, Odinga, Mt Kenya Foundation...) and state machinery," Mr Ngunjiri said.

He added that "I can reveal the figures in several of nine zeros range...but I'm not sure whether Gachagua would want that revelation made...but suffice it to say that Gachagua literally financed Ruto's election in Mt Kenya region".

In a recent TV interview, Mr Gachagua declared that "I singlehandedly financed the election of this government in Mt Kenya region....hence why even at whatever and whichever consideration, we must be respected".

Described by his close allies as “a man of raw instincts when it comes to forging alliances, hard to please and who never forgives betrayal much the more he handsomely rewards loyalty,” Mr Gachagua threw himself into the task of taking 87 percent of Mt Kenya vote in favour of Ruto.

“Dr Ruto needed someone who could stand out against Mr Kenyatta, someone who could convert the Mt Kenya voters into a movement and who had the finances to escape the trap of being bought to betray his candidate,” says career administrator, Joseph Kaguthi.

For the hard tackles he accorded Mr Kenyatta, Gachagua under immense pressure has apologised publicly and beseeching the former head of state to come to his rescue against Ruto.

Mr Kaguthi says he knew Mr Gachagua as a District Officer in the Kanu government “and he is an organiser, orator, and one who quickly reads the mobs…a man who can articulate any policy in a way to win audiences”.

Owing to the negative sentiments that his appointment as running mate elicited, Kenyans—even those who supported UDA and Dr Ruto—appeared unanimous that he would come out badly dominated and shamed in the public debate with his Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance Party competitor, Martha Karua.

Ms Karua being a senior counsel with a heap of experience in being a magistrate, MP since 1992, cabinet minister…and presidential aspirant in 2013, many looked up to the July 19, 2022, debate to be Gachagua’s waterloo.

Comparatively, Mr Gachagua was coming into it with his experience of being a District Officer, President Kenyatta’s former Personal assistant and four(4) years of being Mathira MP, made him an automatic underdog.

The Gachagua case was not made any appealing by his great appetite for goofing on the microphone. It was not long before he had declared that Mt Kenya voters were only interested in eating rice and meat at State Lodges and his competitors had capitalized on to portray him as a communications ‘cabbage’.

Further, Gachagua was fighting graft allegations where he had been arrested, thrown into police cells over several weekends and charged with illegally acquiring Sh7 billion through fraudulent dealings.

“Little did Kenyans know that Mr Gachagua is one firm debator with eloquence and oratory skills that hypnotizes…He knows how to penetrate beneath counter arguments and emerge with counter logic that is destructive and that is exactly the charm he unleashed on Karua to a point all independent analysts gave him not less than 70 percent rating,” says Former Laikipia Woman Representative Cate Waruguru.

Ms Waruguru says "this man had in 1985 joined University of Nairobi (UoN) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree; Political Science and Literature in 1988, but many have a tendency of wrongly believing he is a school dropout".

Kiambu County Senator Karungo Thang'wa says President Ruto and his loyalists have gravely forgotten the asset Gachagua was in the campaigns "and are courting real ground disaster should he (Gachagua) decide to withdraw that repute and use it for his individual gain".

Mr Thang'wa said "this is the man who singlehandedly demolished the combination of President Kenyatta, Mt Kenya Foundation, National Government Administration Officers, Kikuyu Council of Elders, Jubilee Party aspirants, and the deep state to rally us in a single file and delivered a win for Dr Ruto in Mt Kenya".

Mr Thang'wa termed Mr Gachagua as “a fantastic team leader who never panics and goes into battle with single resolve to post a win”.

Two(2) weeks to election, Mr Gachagua was to suffer a major setback when the judiciary ruled that he should forfeit the Sh203 million in the freezed account to the State since he could not sufficiently prove that he had not acquired it though criminal enterprise.

This ruling not only opened the floodgates of being profiled and branded an economic thief who was a liability in any public office.

"But he weathered the storm, insisting that he was being persecuted for defying the president’s clarion call in favour of Mr Odinga, insisting that in the fullness of time he would be vindicated, which has come to pass hence making him credible when he speaks out," says Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara.

In his defence, Mr Gachagua had insisted that "it will be left bare for all to see that the cases heaped against me are politically instigated and they will fade away...I will get my money back," a position that has since turned true.

Should his detractors manage to fell him, it will mark the start of the end of a Gachagua who enrolled at Kabiruini Primary School from 1971 to 1977 before proceeding to Kianyaga High School for his O-levels and A-levels.

He underwent Paramilitary training at Administration Police Institute in 1990 and also pursued Advanced Public Administration Course at the Kenya School of Government between 1999 and 2000.

After graduating, Mr Gachagua worked at the Kenya's Ministry of Home Affairs and National Heritage before he joined the Administration Police Institute in 1990.

After graduating from the Police facility, Gachagua was posted to the Office of the President where he was designated as a District Officer Cadet between 1991 and 1992.

Gachagua then went on to serve as a District Officer in Kakamega, Ng'arua and Laikipia districts. Between 1999 and 2000, he joined Kenya School of Government where he graduated with a Diploma in Advanced Public Administration.

Between 2001 and 2006, Gachagua then worked as the Personal Assistant for Mr Kenyatta.

From 2007 to 2017, Gachagua remained behind the scenes running his businesses before he contested the Mathira seat in 2017 and won before rising to the second powerful man in the land.