Impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has plunged Mt Kenya politics into fresh turmoil after using Inooro TV’s Kiririmbi show to openly urge his supporters to unleash violence against leaders who refuse to back him.
In the fiery broadcast on Sunday night, Gachagua laid out what critics described as a “manual of anarchy”: mobilize goons, storm and disrupt rival meetings, record the chaos, then bankroll propaganda to project himself as the region’s undisputed kingpin. “Heckle them, walk out on them, chase them away,” he thundered, singling out MPs and governors allied to President William Ruto as “traitors to the Kikuyu cause.” He even boasted of spending “seven million shillings” to unite the region against the President, vowing to bar disloyal leaders from “stepping foot” in Mt Kenya.
What was billed as a precursor to his 2027 presidential bid quickly degenerated into what observers described as a tribal manifesto. Chants of “Hosanna Hosanna” and threats against “disloyal MPs” painted a portrait of a leader demanding blind allegiance rather than democratic accountability.
For a region that commands 5.5 million votes, the stakes are immense. Yet instead of articulating solutions to unemployment, inflation, or youth unrest, Gachagua’s politics remain trapped in grievance and exclusion. As one veteran MP put it: “He is turning Mt Kenya into a fiefdom where only his acolytes are allowed. That is not unity—it is tyranny.”
