Rigathi Gachagua has sunk to new depths of dangerous recklessness.
In a recent presser and explosive interview, the impeached former Deputy President shamelessly turned a serious national and regional health security issue the proposed establishment of a US-backed Ebola quarantine and treatment facility in Laikipia — into a vile tribal conspiracy. He claimed President William Ruto is deliberately targeting the Mt Kenya region, particularly the Kikuyu community, to “wipe them out” ahead of 2027.
Does Ebola now have ethnic detection capabilities? Can the virus identify a Kikuyu from a Kalenjin or Luo? This is not opposition politics. This is naked, poisonous tribalism from a man who sees every national challenge through the narrow, hateful lens of ethnicity.
Gachagua’s obsession with inciting his community at every opportunity is both pathetic and perilous. While responsible leaders address public health threats with facts, science and unity, he fabricates genocidal plots to keep Mt Kenya in a permanent state of fear and grievance. He benefits by positioning himself as the self-appointed “defender” of the mountain — a role that masks his lack of any coherent national agenda.
This is the same politician who once served loyally in government, only to turn on it with the same divisive playbook he now deploys. His supporters may cheer, but no rational Kenyan can defend reducing a potential public health matter into a tribal extermination fantasy.
Kenyans are tired of leaders who thrive on fear-mongering and ethnic mobilisation instead of offering solutions. Gachagua’s brand of politics does not unite or build — it divides, poisons minds, and risks real communal tension for personal relevance.
Enough. A man so eager to weaponise Ebola against one community has no business anywhere near national leadership. His rhetoric is not just reckless — it is a national embarrassment and a clear danger to Kenya’s fragile social cohesion.
Mt Kenya and all Kenyans deserve far better than this toxic conmanship.
About the Author
