‘Ruto is a master of narratives,’ Gachagua dismisses being labelled tribal leader

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has rubbished claims that he is a tribal leader, instead accusing President William Ruto of orchestrating a negative narrative against him after their bitter political fallout.

Speaking during an exclusive interview on Citizen TV’s The Explainer Show on Tuesday night, Gachagua said his former boss was keen on creating narratives to suit political convenience.

He also referred to his once close allies turned foes, alleging that Ruto’s close allies have been instrumental in perpetuating the “tribalist” narrative as a way to sideline him politically.

“Narratives are created in this country and my former Boss, William Ruto, is a master of narratives; he is very good. When you are friends, he says so many nice things about you and when he and I were getting along, when I was helping him to be president, he had very kind words about Rigathi Gachagua; a great mobiliser, a people’s man, a great strategist, a man who loves and cares about people's issues…” he stated.

“…But the minute we fell out, he labelled me as a tribalist. It is something that he has been preaching in every meeting so that he can justify to Kenyans why, after I helped to make him President, he hounded me out of office.”

Citing the 2022 General Election, Gachagua defended his track record, saying his political choices went against tribal considerations.

Gachagua who was impeached last year by the Kenya Kwanza outfit, insisted he has always been a nationalist who has never spoken ill of other communities.

“The man before you is a great nationalist, who loves Kenya, who has never uttered something negative about another community. He loves his community, yes, but that does not mean he hates other communities,” he stated.

“If you want to know, I am a nationalist, against all odds, when Uhuru Kenyatta wanted me to support Raila Odinga, and he is my kinsman, had I been tribal, I would have listened to Uhuru. I went ahead to support Ruto.”

Turning his guns on Ruto’s Rift Valley backyard, Gachagua questioned the region’s voting patterns in 2022, instead throwing the tribal card to his former boss.

“When I supported Ruto, I knew he was not a Kikuyu or Meru, but a Kalenjin, and still I together with my community supported him, in fact, we gave him 87% of our votes and the other 13%, there was another candidate (David Mwaure), a Kikuyu, we didn’t give him but we gave it to Raila, a Luo. That tells you that my people and I are not tribal,” he explained.

“William Ruto and his community, how many votes did they give to Raila? None. All their votes went to their kinsman (Ruto),” he said.

At the same time, the outspoken DCP leader dared the president and his allies to produce evidence of him ever making derogatory remarks against other ethnic groups.

“I would like to challenge William Ruto and his cronies to produce a single video of me making negative remarks against another tribe,” he stated.