The cracks in Rigathi Gachagua’s much-touted Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) are now laid bare. For months, the former deputy president thundered that Mt Kenya stood solidly behind him, insisting Kenyans were “forcing” him to run for president in 2027. Yet when handed the perfect test in his own backyard — the Mbeere North by-election — Gachagua bolted.
The about-turn is damning. If Mt Kenya truly rallied behind him, why skip Mbeere North, where victory could have cemented his credentials as the region’s kingpin? Instead, Gachagua retreated, leaving his supporters bewildered and aspirants humiliated.
Equally embarrassing is the silence of his deputy party leader, Cleophas Malala. The Malava by-election is in Kakamega, Malala’s supposed stronghold. Yet DCP has not fielded a candidate, and Malala himself has not dared set foot there. The “ground” he once bragged about appears to have crumbled beneath him.
For critics, the irony is irresistible. “So Kenyans have been begging Gachagua to run for president, but somehow, those Kenyans exclude the people of Mbeere North?” one commentator asked with biting laughter. Others dismiss the bravado as Mau Mau bonoko — empty sloganeering unmasked by cold political reality.
What emerges is a party unable to contest even in its leaders’ backyards, let alone on a national stage. For all the talk of presidential runs, DCP now risks being remembered less as a movement, and more as a punchline.
Gachagua and Malala promised to roar. Instead, they have whispered. And Kenyans are watching amused, skeptical, and unconvinced.
