Impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is firing off urgent letters to police and poll chiefs in a last-ditch bid to shape tomorrow’s Mbeere North by-election — moves rivals say reek of a man bracing for defeat.
In a stern November 12 letter to Inspector-General Douglas Kanja, Gachagua alleged a shadowy state plot to unleash chaos and sabotage his Democratic Citizens Party (DCP) campaign — demanding swift arrests of “goons” allegedly linked to senior officials. He vowed to press on with a nine-day blitz despite “death threats,” but insiders say the tour fizzled, dogged by thin crowds and low energy.
The alarm widened with a broadside against the IEBC, as Gachagua accused Vice Chair Fahima Araphat of “meddling” in parallel by-elections — including Mbeere — and urged her immediate resignation to “restore neutrality.” His party piled on with claims of intimidation and Sh600 million in alleged voter bribery in Embu’s heartland.
Rivals dismiss the outcry as pre-emptive excuse-making. “This isn’t vigilance — it’s anticipating loss,” sneered a UDA strategist, saying Gachagua’s candidate, Newton Karish, was drowned out by endless anti-Ruto attacks while bread-and-butter pledges on water and roads went missing.
Whispers on the ground point to a UDA surge behind Leo Wamuthende, with Gachagua’s quiet retreat from the trail stirring talk of a splintered camp.
With 50,000 voters poised to decide, security chiefs and the IEBC are on high alert. But in political circles the verdict is blunt: when a self proclaimed kingpin senses the crown slipping, the cry of “rigging” comes first.
Dawn brings a reckoning. Will Mbeere bury Gachagua’s comeback — or ignite a fresh political firestorm?
