Is the United Opposition still standing, or has it been buried six feet deep? Increasingly, it appears that the opposition’s biggest enemy has not been the ruling party alone, but the divisive politics championed by Rigathi Gachagua. By reducing national politics to ethnic arithmetic and tribal mobilisation, Gachagua has succeeded in weakening, fragmenting, and ultimately paralysing the opposition.
Opposition movements thrive on unity, ideas, and moral clarity. What Gachagua injected into the political space was the opposite: suspicion, ethnic loyalty tests, and open hostility toward leaders perceived to come from “the wrong side.” This kind of tribal framing does not just polarise the country—it destroys coalitions. Leaders who should be working together end up mistrusting one another, constantly defending their ethnic credentials instead of articulating policy alternatives.
The result has been predictable. The opposition has struggled to speak with one voice. Instead of presenting a bold, national vision that speaks to jobs, the cost of living, governance, and opportunity, it has been dragged into ethnic firefighting. Energy that should go into strategy, organisation, and ideas is wasted responding to tribal narratives and personal attacks.
Gachagua’s approach has also silenced the silent majority. Many Kenyans are tired of ethnic politics and want leadership that rises above tribe. When the political conversation is reduced to “us versus them,” thoughtful citizens disengage. This disengagement benefits the incumbents, because a divided and demoralised opposition cannot mobilise effectively.
Perhaps most damaging is that tribal politics lower the bar. When loyalty matters more than competence or ideas, mediocrity thrives. The opposition, instead of challenging the government with superior thinking and credible leadership, is left reacting—always on the defensive, always fractured.
In this sense, Gachagua did not defeat the opposition through strength or vision. He buried it by poisoning the political environment with tribalism. Until the opposition decisively rejects ethnic politics and offers a clear, inclusive, and disruptive alternative, it will remain weakened—not by external force, but by the very divisions imposed upon it.
