Rigathi Gachagua has developed a troubling habit of looking Kenyans in the eye and rewriting history to inflate his own importance. One of his most persistent lies is the claim that he introduced President William Ruto to Mt Kenya and “sanitized” him for the region, particularly after the 2007 post-election violence when some residents were wary of Ruto.
This is not just exaggeration. It is a deliberate distortion.
Ruto served as Deputy President from 2008 to 2022 a period spanning two administrations. During those early years, Gachagua was not a significant political actor in Mt Kenya. He was still serving as Uhuru Kenyatta’s personal assistant until around 2006–2007, and only emerged as Mathira MP in 2017. The notion that he was the one who “brought” Ruto to the mountain during Ruto’s first term as Deputy President is historically false.
President Ruto has directly and repeatedly rejected this narrative.
Speaking in Embu and other parts of Mt Kenya, he has stated clearly that nobody carried him on their back to the region. He has emphasised that his relationship with Mt Kenya was built over decades through personal engagement, project launches, and friendships forged while representing former President Uhuru Kenyatta long before Gachagua became a household name in the region.
Even Justin Muturi, a veteran politician who has walked closely with both men at different times, has been notably hesitant when asked to endorse Gachagua’s sweeping claims. When pressed on the matter, Muturi chose to reserve his opinion a telling sign that even those familiar with the internal dynamics do not fully buy the exaggerated version of events Gachagua is now peddling.
Gachagua’s real contribution to Ruto’s 2022 victory was significant, but it came much later — after the Uhuru-Ruto fallout, when he mobilised Mt Kenya through the Tanga Tanga movement and helped deliver the region’s overwhelming support. That role does not entitle him to claim he single-handedly introduced Ruto to the mountain or made him president.
This pattern of historical revisionism is dangerous. It is the behaviour of a man who, having lost institutional power after his impeachment, is now desperately rewriting the past to manufacture relevance for 2027. Kenyans, especially in Mt Kenya, should not allow one bitter politician to distort shared political history for personal gain.
The truth is stubborn: Ruto built his own relationships in the region over many years. Gachagua joined the effort late in the game. Pretending otherwise is not just dishonest it is an insult to the intelligence of the very people whose votes decided the 2022 outcome.
