Gachagua messy exit makes Odinga a saint

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has officially exited the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), but not without staging one last mud-slinging soap opera.

For a man who stings like a bee, Mr Gachagua’s rambling resignation letter on Monday wasn’t a surprise.

Some feisty critics even edited it for grammar and turned it into a social media clickbait. Addressed to President William Ruto and copied to UDA chair Cecily Mbarire and the Political Parties Registrar, the note was an emotional outpouring from a wounded lion.

It reflected the rage weighing down the self-appointed Wamunyoro villager.

Mr Gachagua wrote that the so-called bottom-up agenda had hit a dead end. He also accused the State of turning the Hustler Fund, affordable housing, healthcare reforms and the digital economy into cash cows for a few privileged people he didn’t name. Is it Adani or who? 

He insinuates that Kenya Kwanza has long turned the country into the fabled ‘Animal Farm’ where a few feed well while others spectate.

“It is my duty as a Kenyan who believes in the rule of law and the sanctity of our Constitution to resign from a party that no longer listens to the people,” he settled.

That five-paged rhetorical overreach had more plotting than the entire Corpus Aristotelicum, all of thinker Aristotle’s works combined. In my view, the letter lacked freshness.

He padded it with tired complaints he raises in rallies and press interviews since his impeachment. Sounds opportunistic.

He attacked multi-billion shillings programmes he once championed during his happy days when government, for him, was a share enterprise of tribes.

In a power play that could easily backfire, the ‘truthful man’ echoes Winston Churchill’s belief that ‘anyone can rat, but it takes a certain ingenuity to re-rat.’

The import? Mr Gachagua is a victim of self-pity. He is our version of Napoleon Bonaparte in the French Revolution, who upon defeat, portrayed himself as a hero wronged by the world.

His memoirs published after 1815, cast him as a misjudged genius whose downfall arose from betrayal by cowards and monarchs. Call it less accountability and more victimhood.

The former Number Two quickly forgets that UDA is now spilt milk! He must move on. He should have studied First Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s timeless example before ranting in the name of quitting.

In 1966, Mr Odinga gracefully resigned from Kanu and as Vice President. His resignation letter, hardly a paragraph long, was principled and continues to be a case study.

“You haven’t given any consideration to me as your Number Two in State matters. I have a conscience and this, in fact, does prick me when I earn public money but with no job to do,” Jaramogi wrote to Jomo Kenyatta.

He didn’t attempt a flawed post-mortem of the regime’s performance. To this day, Jaramogi is remembered as one of the few leaders who resigned on principle, and with dignity. Nevertheless, let’s remind ‘Riggy G’ that as he nurtures his new Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), he must adopt former US President Abraham Lincoln’s ‘team of rivals’ strategy. Central to this?

Reconciling with Mt Kenya supremo Uhuru Kenyatta. Believe you me, the sooner, the better for him.

His allies like Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga should have pushed for a handshake between him and Mr Kenyatta immediately after his impeachment.

They must rebuild the bridge now or else Mr Gachagua will be ungrounded in the mountain. He must stop the anti-Ruto pomposity and extend olive branches.

That said, wherever Mr Gachagua heads next with his new party, and for the sake of future resignations he might consider, he must borrow a leaf from Jaramogi’s bag of wisdom. A powerful exit doesn’t need pages of raw bile, but purpose. A man is mostly judged by how he leaves rather than how he arrives.

For now, grab some popcorn and watch as DCP torpedoes the little hopes for Opposition unity in 2027.

The writer is a communications practitioner. X:@markoloo