Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s abrasive statements against senior security and judicial officers in the last few months are seen as having driven a wedge between him and the ‘deep state’ that is led by President William Ruto.

Currently, the ground is yet to cool since he demanded the immediate resignation of the Director General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Noordin Haji over what he termed as collapse of sound advice about the youthful protests that led to the abandonment of the Finance Bill, 2024.

The protests that were organised by the Generation Z population, ended up being violent after criminals infiltrated them and went ahead to execute arson, looting, and muggings.

Mr Gachagua said Mr Haji failed in his spy master duties and instead of owning up, “his department is coming up with concocted reports to apportion the protests to me".

"They blame me, a few leaders in Mt Kenya region, and former president Uhuru Kenyatta to the mayhem,” DP Gachagua said while in Mombasa.

State House insiders have since tipped us that on July 15, 2023, during President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Parliamentary Group meeting at State House, Mt Kenya politicians they had started bickering and antagonizing each other—had demanded the sacking of Mr Haji on grounds that he was effecting a clandestine plan of realising a handshake between opposition boss Raila Odinga and the president.

“Mr Haji has been a marked man by many Mt Kenya leaders, but after they themselves started having their divisions and competitions, Mr Gachagua has been left as the biggest critique of our spy master who in turn continues to enjoy 100 percent support by the president”.

Also, Mr Gachagua has of late been warring Nairobi Security Committee for what he terms as “inhumane and insensitive demolitions of houses built on riparian land especially those owned by our Mt Kenya people”.  

While addressing mourners in Murang’a County during the burial ceremony of the late Murang’a Distributors founder Gerald Gikonyo in Kangema Constituency on June 29, 2024, Mr Gachagua said “those overzealous officers are doing so just to spite us and reveal to us that they can overturn what we promised our people that all premises’ demolitions will have to be sanctioned by the National Security Advisory Committee and adopted by the Cabinet”.

“Those people we gave leadership duties in Nairobi and some security officers being used to set us up with our own people so that their script of dividing us can apply and after we are thrown to being busy in frustrations, set in and execute their plans of isolating us,” he charged.

Mr Gachagua’s brickbats against security officers that also include City Hall askaris has been consistent especially those whom he suspects of trying to upset his Mount Kenya region stronghold to a point that in 2023 he is said to have caused a major transfer backlog as he demanded to be involved in vetting those to leave or enter Mt Kenya region.

A senior administrator claimed he had to stay at home for three(3) months “since after I was transferred to serve in the Mt Kenya region, allies of the Deputy President said I was a close confidant of the former Interior PS Karanja Kibicho hence I could not be trusted to take good care of the new regime’s interests”.

He said he witnessed dozens of other cases riddled with the same dilemma “and at some point my transfer into the region was revoked and I was posted to serve elsewhere far from the Mountain”.

After he took his oath of office as Deputy President on September 13, 2022, he launched a scathing attack against security officers especially those in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) whom he accused of “transforming the country into a field of political persecutions where those who carried contra opinion would be arrested and framed just to humiliate and intimidate them”.

He said then that the regime of former President Uhuru Kenyatta, had transformed the country into that of using the security organs to prosecute politics, a thing he said would be of the past in the President Ruto regime.

Recently while on a tour of Murang’a County, he heaped praise on County Commissioner Mr Joshua Nkanatha whom he said “has been brought here to replace Patrick Mukuria".

Mr Mukuria was accused of allegedly being ineffective especially in the fight against illegal brews and impunity among bar owners who used to make noise to residents as well as breach listed license conditions.

Mr Mukuria had been accused by even Deputy President’s spouse Ms Dorcas Rigathi of abetting liquor trade cartels that has influential families and tycoons and who even would stage narcotic use competitions as well as underage strip dancing. 

It was after six underage girls were arrested strip dancing in one of the Murang’a town bars that he was removed from the county and his woes deepened when he was named by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) as a candidate for prosecution on corruption charges.

The DP would go back to Murang'a where this time, he castigated Mr Nkanatha of letting cheap alcohol creep back to the region to a point “it is killing even our own officers”. 

He said there was an assistant chief who had died of consuming illicit brews.

On February 9, 2024, Gachagua while attending to the commissioning of Joy Millers Processing Plant in Kutus, Kirinyaga County, launched a scathing attack against the county’s top security officers for sitting there and overseeing the sale of killer brews that had days earlier claimed the lives of more than 30 revelers.

Mr Gachagua ordered that the County Commissioner, County Police Commander, County Director of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the County Administration Police Commander be recalled to allow for investigations.

He also added that the area chief and assistant chiefs were also required to explain why the incident happened besides also declaring that “all those officers who are found to be unsuitable to serve will no longer be accorded transfers rather, they will be getting their sacking letters in the very area they failed to perform”.

"Those culpable will be sacked and prosecuted not transferred. Traders using shortcuts to enrich themselves through poisonous alcohol must know their days are numbered. We will not carry along inept security people with us,” he said.

The DP did not spare the Judiciary which he accused of issuing orders that barred the arrest and prosecution of rogue traders who were taking shortcuts to get rich by selling poison to the people.

To Chief Justice Martha Koome he said: “You are also a daughter of the Mountain… What will you tell your people after they are finished by these merchants of poison who keep on getting leniency in your courts?”

He directly posed to CJ Koome: “How come all traders of illicit brews are getting orders to continue selling the poisonous brews? To the Judges and the Chief Justice, what will you tell Kenyans? Judges should be patriotic and reasonable. How can you apply the law to the detriment of the people?"

Mr Gachagua had earlier without tabling any evidence, publicly named a member of the judiciary branding her as corrupt and unfit to hold office on grounds that she had mishandled his corruption case that had since been withdrawn by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

On February 19, 2023, the DP had furiously visited Nakuru County where he announced that disciplinary action will be taken against the then Nakuru County police boss for his role in the eviction of over 105 families in Kiriko village, Rongai Constituency.

Speaking while giving food aid to the affected families, Mr Gachagua said the police failed in their duty to protect life and property.

“I am very ashamed to stand here as Deputy President after our police officers oversaw such an inhumane and insensitive incident. The work of the police is to serve and protect and not to oversee the damage of property. These are the things we promised our people that we would never allow to happen under our watch, but some of our uniformed officers have decided to sabotage us. The procedure was that the officers first present the issue to a full security committee sitting and consult us in Nairobi before unleashing suffering among our people,” he said.

Mr Gachagua cautioned officers who would be part of similar actions without following due process saying they would be acting in an individual capacity which would be subject to disciplinary action.

“I want to tell officers who have such habits to change immediately. Any police commander who conducts such evictions without consulting the County Security and Intelligence Committee will be acting alone. We’ve already removed the County Police Commander who oversaw the operations and we will take action against him,” said the DP.

Another incident was on October 16, 2023, when on a tour of Nyadarua County Mr Gachagua expressed concern regarding the eviction of traders in Ol Kalou town by the Kenya Railways police officers.

He accused some officers of being illiterate on guidelines that “if demolitions are deemed necessary, there should be prior discussions and plans for eviction to ensure the dignified treatment of residents in affected areas... and all those actions must not be executed during the night”.

Former senior Provincial Administration officer Mr Joseph Kaguthi says “if you look at the Gachagua utterances, nowhere can you pin him that he abused his powers or acted maliciously since on all counts, he was pursuing political populism which drives electoral politics”.

Mr Kaguthi however agreed that for Mr Gachagua's woes to lessen, he needs to go slow on being at loggerheads with security apparatus.

“They can sit down and sort issues amicably,” Mr Kaguthi said.