By The Weekly Vision Team
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has renewed his attack on President William Ruto, accusing the Head of State of using government-funded development projects as a campaign tool rather than a genuine instrument of national progress.
The remarks, delivered ahead of the closely watched Ol Kalou by-election, are the latest flashpoint in a bruising feud between the two men that has come to define Mount Kenya politics as the country edges towards the 2027 General Election.
Speaking during a consultative meeting with Westlands constituency leaders at his Wamunyoro residence on 8th July, the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader accused Mr Ruto of “destroying Kenya’s political culture” by rolling out an unusually high volume of development initiatives in Ol Kalou constituency ahead of its 16th July by-election. Mr Gachagua pointed to a wave of government activity in the Nyandarua County seat, including road upgrades, electricity connections and fishing boats delivered to residents, and argued the timing was designed to sway voters towards the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate.
“Let the government and UDA campaigners give you the gas cylinder, a GoK mattress, and all that has not been delivered to Ol Kalou since 1963. But, my great people of Ol Kalou, do not give away your voting rights. Stay firm, descendants of Mau Mau!” Mr Gachagua told residents.
He argued that channelling public resources primarily during election periods sets a dangerous precedent, warning that Kenyans in counties without upcoming polls would increasingly ask why roads, water and electricity projects are rushed to Central Kenya constituencies only when a vote is imminent. Mr Gachagua maintained that development is a constitutional entitlement for all citizens and should never be traded for political support.
The criticism is not without cost to his camp. Ndegwa Njiru, a lawyer closely associated with Gachagua who has represented him in court, including in proceedings challenging the former Deputy President’s impeachment, was arrested along Thika Road within a day of publicly echoing the “development as a political tool” charge. Police have cited an alleged obstruction incident; none of the senior opposition figures around Gachagua had commented on the arrest by the time of publication.
The Ol Kalou remarks extend a pattern of direct confrontation between the two men that has intensified through 2026. President Ruto has repeatedly dismissed Mr Gachagua’s claims that he needs Mount Kenya’s political brokers to retain the region’s support, insisting during church engagements in Embu and elsewhere that he personally campaigned for and secured votes in the area. “I will not kneel. He wants me to worship him for you to vote for me,” the President said in one such rebuttal. Mr Gachagua, for his part, has claimed credit for introducing Mr Ruto to the Mount Kenya electorate in 2022 and has argued that the goodwill built then has since evaporated, telling supporters that “since I left, you have had to pay people just to listen to you.”
The DCP’s performance in recent by-elections has given Mr Gachagua’s camp grounds to claim momentum. Its candidate in May’s Emurua Dikirr by-election, held in President Ruto’s own Rift Valley backyard, secured over 10,000 votes against the winning UDA candidate, a result some opposition figures described as a meaningful statement despite the loss. In Ol Kalou, DCP’s Sammy Kamau Ngotho won his party’s nomination decisively in May, and the opposition has since moved to consolidate behind a single candidate under a “United Alternative Government” banner, drawing in the Jubilee Party and other opposition formations, to avoid splitting the anti-UDA vote in the 16th July contest.
Mr Gachagua’s broadside comes amid wider repositioning across Kenya’s opposition and independent political formations ahead of 2027. Activist-turned-politician Morara Kebaso, who rose to national prominence through his “Vampire Diaries” project auditing stalled public works after the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests, has shelved the INJECT Party he launched in 2025 alongside his own presidential bid. He has instead aligned with the Jubilee Party, now closely associated with former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, to pursue the Borabu parliamentary seat in Nyamira County, citing the strength of Jubilee’s brand across the Gusii region. “In Borabu, or Nyamira County, or the Gusii region, you cannot mention another party,” Mr Kebaso said, explaining that voters there identify overwhelmingly with the Jubilee ticket.
Separately, former ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo has formally entered the presidential race, launching the People’s Prosperity Party on 8th July and unveiling a platform built around free primary and day secondary education, free healthcare in public hospitals, sharply reduced personal and corporate taxes, and a forensic audit of Kenya’s public debt. Mr Owalo, who resigned as Deputy Chief of Staff in January to pursue the bid, has described his agenda as a “Third Liberation” for the country and has said he intends to remain in the race “for the long haul.”
Analysts say the accumulation of these moves, Gachagua’s sustained offensive, Kebaso’s pivot to Jubilee, Owalo’s declared candidacy, and the opposition’s attempt at a unified front in Ol Kalou, reflects a political class still finding its footing more than a year out from the next general election. Some view Mr Gachagua’s remarks as legitimate criticism of a long-standing pattern in Kenyan politics, in which infrastructure spending has often tracked election calendars rather than need; others regard it as early campaign positioning ahead of a contest in which he has yet to declare his own presidential ambitions.
The Ol Kalou by-election itself has become something of a proxy battle. Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and senior UDA officials have campaigned heavily for the party’s candidate, Samuel Muchina Nyaga, while Mr Gachagua has personally driven DCP’s ground campaign. Commentators aligned with both sides have framed the outcome as a test of broader political strength, some suggesting a UDA win would signal growing Kenya Kwanza inroads into Mount Kenya ahead of 2027, others arguing a DCP victory would cement Mr Gachagua’s claim to be the region’s dominant political voice, with implications for Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s own standing in the area.
With the by-election result due within days, and Kenya’s opposition field still visibly in motion, further defections, mergers and public sparring are widely expected in the months ahead as political actors position themselves for 2027.
