Why Gachagua should write a book on his political journey
Ken Opalo
By
Ken Opalo
| Feb 28, 2025
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua should write a book about his brief political bromance with President William Ruto.
The reason is because as a country we have a bad habit of engaging in what can only be termed as fast-and-loose gossip.
We talk a lot, but rarely ever take time to logically connect the dots related to various statements made by public officials, or claims in official government reports.
Since being unceremoniously kicked out of office through impeachment, Gachagua has made several statements – some of them leveling serious personal accusations against the President – that deserve serious consideration in text.
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Which is why the country could benefit from a cogent meditation by Gachagua on how he found himself getting hoodwinked by a would-be political ally, and what he saw and went through in his brief stint as Deputy President.
A book format would be superior to random interviews or statements in churches and funerals because it would force the author to paint a full picture based on the disparate allegations. Kenyans deserve to know more about how their politics and government work.
Beyond the descriptive value of such an exercise, writing a book would also challenge Gachagua to reveal to the public his true personality and political philosophy. Here, everything he says and does not say will speak volumes. If he chooses sincerity, it will be obvious, and likely earn him political brownie points.
Obfuscation will only elicit further questions about his motivations to launch an all-out assault on the character of President William Ruto. It may sound odd to bring up questions regarding the sincerity of politicians. After all, theirs is a profession where what matters is the sales pitch.
However, there is something to be said about the perfidious nature of Kenyan elite politics. For a group of mostly well-educated wealthy people, they are astonishingly bad at crafting lasting organisational arrangements to facilitate cooperation.
This is an aspect of intra-elite politics in Kenya that deserves serious attention in written form. Having just recently been handed the short end of the stick, Gachagua is in a unique position to interrogate the drivers of Kenyan political elites’ inability to cooperate with each other in any meaningful ways.
Is it that they are too tribal for their own good? Could it be a question of personal character and/or ambition among the top leadership of political parties?
To reiterate, Gachagua’s statements about his brief period in office would have more weight if backed up by evidence and strong arguments in written form. And more importantly, it would be an invaluable material addition to our political history.
-The writer is a professor at Georgetown University