Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says he has nothing against Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna for taking part in his October 17, 2024 impeachment. He argues that the political fallout from his removal has benefited the United Opposition as it prepares for the 2027 General Election.
Speaking to KTN on Wednesday, Gachagua said Sifuna acted in the interests of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which then belonged to the opposition. Gachagua added that he would have made the same choice in Sifuna’s position.
The two men stood in opposing political camps during the impeachment. They now serve as co-principals in the United Opposition, which aims to unite behind one presidential candidate to challenge President William Ruto in 2027.
Gachagua said he raised Sifuna’s role in the impeachment when the senator visited his Wamunyoro home on October 20. He asked Sifuna how he reconciled his earlier decision with their current political partnership.
“The good young man explained to me, and I agreed with his reasoning. They were in ODM, our opponents with William Ruto. So when William Ruto reached out to ODM to give them a rope long enough to hang himself [politically], they just gave it to him,” he claimed.
Gachagua said ODM leaders saw a chance to ‘weaken’ Ruto politically by backing the removal of his deputy, who had helped mobilize Mount Kenya voters behind Ruto’s 2022 presidential campaign.
“He told me, ‘Riggy G, if you were in our shoes, you would have done the same. This guy was our opponent. He defeated us because he had the Mountain. By removing you, you lose the whole mountain, and he has lost it, by the way,’” Gachagua said.
Gachagua said Sifuna’s vote did not amount to betrayal because they had not been political allies at the time.
The former deputy president said Sifuna’s vote did not amount to betrayal because the two were not political allies at the time.
“Number two, in my community, a betrayal by an outsider is not betrayal. Sifuna and I were not in the same camp; he did not vote for me, so how does he betray me?” he posed.
“The betrayal is with the Kenya Kwanza team. These are people we were together with; we had an agreement on how to work, and we campaigned for them.”
Gachagua said his Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) would welcome former Kenya Kwanza allies who had fallen out with the ruling coalition and wanted to follow the electorate’s mood.
“Anybody who betrayed the community, you have reconciled with your soul; you have listened to the ground. The people are saying, ‘Go where the people are,’ and you want to come to DCP. There’s no vetting, there’s nothing,” he said.
He said defectors would only need to pay the party membership fee and formally announce their move.
“So, in matters of impeachment, we don’t have an issue with them (ODM),” he said.
Gachagua said the impeachment would remain a political liability for Ruto and his allies, especially in Mount Kenya. He said the president would have to explain why his former deputy had left office.
“He has to tell the people of the mountain, ‘We gave you our son to be your deputy for five years; you have come back without him. Where is he?’ He will be asked.”
“William Ruto has many questions to answer to the mountain. The Western and Nyanza people have no questions to answer because we were not in the same camp anyway. Even if they impeached us, it’s a simple matter given what is at stake,” he added.
Gachagua said the opposition must set aside personal grievances and differences to defeat the incumbent in 2027, even if that means working with people who backed his removal.
“That is why I must embrace everybody, including those who removed me from office, because I need everybody. We need each other, and we have a job to do. Even that impeachment, I have no issue with it; it’s a blessing in disguise. I’m happier than I was.”
Gachagua said the impeachment had put him in a strategic position to help shape the opposition’s political realignment as it seeks to form the next government.
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