RIGATHI GACHACUA BLAMES RUTO INTIMIDATION

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua laid the blame for the unrest at the PCEA church in Kariobangi North last Sunday directly at the doors of the President William Ruto and the Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.

While he was delivering a speech at the Thanksgiving ceremony for the newly elected Member of the County Assembly representing Kariobangi North, David Warui, Gachagua made accusations against President Ruto saying that he had sent thugs to scare the locals off and remarked that the government was employing thugs and police to keep the opposition down.

"We have got to the stage in the Republic of Kenya where William Ruto wants to make us his supporters through fear. He has dispatched thugs and the police to attack the residents of Kariobangi North just because they did not vote for a UDA candidate," Gachagua commented.

"William Ruto, let me give you a piece of advice; you are radicalizing the Kikuyu nation and that is precisely the mistake the colonial government made. With every attack you send, the community only grows to hate you more. Those who guide you are leading you astray."

Gachagua associated the disturbances with the recent in Kariobangi North by-election, where the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) candidate won and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate came in fourth, which he argued was a sign of the public's discontent with the ruling party.

“And I tell you, Governor, my supporters voted for you. Why are you letting Ruto use you to send goons to your own community to intimidate them? Why? These people voted for you, yet you have turned against them. Now Ruto is sending you with thugs to attack this community because he doesn't want you to succeed,” he argued.

The past Deputy President caution that imposing political loyalty would not win the ruling party's support either in Nairobi or Mt. Kenya, and he maintained that such loyalty had been historically coercion compelled.

"You can't support this community by force. If you ask Ruto about Narok, he will tell you he tried using intimidation to make the people support a UDA candidate, and they refused."

He commended the Maasai community for their backing of DCP, claiming that the recent victories at Kariobangi North, Narok Town, and Kisa East are proof of the party's growing power.

"Do not be concerned about Mbeere; DCP had no candidate there. We had candidates in Kariobangi North, Narok Town, and Kisa East, and we won. In Purko and Magarini, we only lost narrowly. For a party that is only seven months old, it has won 3 seats out of 5," the DCP leader affirmed.

The head of DCP also presented a new political alliance with the leader of the Wiper Party Kalonzo Musyoka, claiming that the two parties had come to an agreement to put up joint candidates in the 2027 Nairobi gubernatorial, senatorial, and women's representative positions, along with major parliamentary and ward seats.

"The triumph at Kariobangi North is the milestone of DCP's journey in Nairobi. DCP is the ruling party in Nairobi," the DCP leader declared.
"We have settled that of the 17 parliamentary seats, we will take 16, and of the 85 ward seats, DCP and Wiper will take 75."
DCP secured the Kariobangi North Ward (David Wanyoike), Narok Town Ward (Douglas Masikonde), and Kisa East Ward (Aduda Okwiri) seats.