Rigathi Gachagua is finally cornered.
Yesterday, President William Ruto delivered a double-barrelled hammer in Western Kenya — first exposing the impeached ex-DP as a tribalist who manipulated his late brother Nderitu’s deathbed will to dispossess the widow and children, then branding him a “cold-blooded murderer” who impregnated and killed university girls young enough to be his daughters.
Gachagua’s desperate counter? A cheap personal jab at State House: “Ruto is very angry… you can see how much weight he has lost.”
Ruto’s reply this morning in Cheptais was merciless: “Stop eating too much… your stomach will burst. Go to the gym. You even fall asleep in meetings.”
The once-unstoppable attack dog is now limping.
Today, instead of his trademark fire-and-brimstone abuse on every podium, a visibly subdued Gachagua rushed into damage-control mode. He granted a BBC interview this morning, followed by calls to vernacular stations including Kameme FM and Inooro. Gone was the venom. In its place: measured talk of “leadership, rule of law, and safety of political actors.”
You could hear the defeat dripping from his voice. No “Zakayo must go.” No “Ruto hates Mt Kenya.” No personal insults. For the first time since impeachment, the man who built a career on tribal incitement and name-calling is being forced to discuss actual issues and plans for Kenyans.
Ruto had repeatedly pleaded with the united opposition to stick to issue-based politics. Gachagua ignored him — until the President’s unsparing expose left him with no escape route.The conman who toured Mt Kenya crying victimhood has run out of script. The mask is gone. The abuse is silenced. Kenyans are watching: this is what cornered looks like.
