Ruto, Gachagua treat Kenyans to circus with wild claims

A nursery school rhyme goes: There once were two cats from Kilkenny. Each thought that was one cat too many, So they started to fight And to scratch and to bite- Now, instead of two cats, there aren’t any. This Irish poem aptly captures the circus that is President William Ruto and his former deputy Rigathi Gachagua.

Dr Ruto and Gachagua are rolling in the mud, each trying as hard as possible to get the other dirtier. In recent weeks, they have traded accusations over who was more corrupt and more dishonest, offering clues into why they fell out.

Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has gotten into the mix, injecting regular doses of fresh claims against Ruto, who is also constantly countering Gachagua’s assault.

The former DP is also struggling to escape from the crosshairs of Ruto’s hangers-on, who are equally creative in their taunts against Gachagua: National Assembly’s Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah will make a claim about Gachagua, who, naturally, responds. The latter then baptises Deputy President Kithure Kindiki some unflattering name, and Kindiki will respond in kind.

The nation has been left to react to whatever theory the political class can conjure up as they treat Kenyans to the circus that is Kenya’s politics. The casualty, observers have highlighted, is mwananchi, whose day-to-day issues are slighted.

On Monday, Gachagua sought a TV interview to ‘respond’ to the Head of State’s recent allegations that the former deputy president had demanded Sh10 billion to campaign for Ruto in the Mount Kenya region, among other claims.

It is instructive that the former DP, impeached last October over constitutional breaches, did the interview after Ruto’s tour of Mt Kenya, a region Gachagua hopes to ring-fence ahead of the 2027 General Election. Politicians have often deployed various strategies aimed at watering down advances by other politicians in their turfs.

Gachagua’s response was mostly a rejoinder, given he had been the first to make sensational allegations of bribery and corruption within the government. With every television interview he has had, Gachagua has had something new to reveal about Ruto.

In the latest, he doubled down Muturi’s earlier claims that the Head of State was the mastermind of corrupt dealings within the government, calling Ruto the “high priest of corruption and “chief procurement officer.” He also refuted claims that he had demanded Sh10 billion, repeating a claim that he made in February about Ruto offering in Sh2 billion to resign instead of facing impeachment.

None has presented evidence about these claims, which contradict earlier allegations. Last October, Dennis Itumbi, a pro-Ruto blogger, claimed Gachagua had said that Ruto would “kneel” before him and leave Sh6.5 billion.

The former DP pointed out this contradiction during last week’s interview, terming the President a “pathological liar” and equated it to a “mental disorder.”

Gachagua also claimed that Ruto gave his orderlies – like Farouk Kibet, the President’s personal assistant and Dennis Itumbi, a blogger – unchecked powers, which have seen them allegedly bully other officials and engage in corruption.

“The President told me he had no problem with Farouk making a little money, but I maintained that I would not allow myself to be instructed by Farouk,” said Gachagua, a claim the Standard could not independently verify. This claim was a counter to Ruto’s earlier one that Gachagua had been picking constant fights with junior officials. Ruto and Muturi have also clashed over the reason for the latter’s recent sacking from the Cabinet and as Attorney-General months ago. The President’s version is that Muturi was out of his depth with the first job and had absconded duty as cabinet secretary.

Governance consultant Tom Mboya dismissed the many unsubstantiated claims by politicians.

“Neither one is known particularly for their truthfulness! So, such statements are only likely to excite their most ardent supporters. Wild, unsubstantiated claims have become commonplace in politics: a tactic used by politicians more interested in gamesmanship than meaningful political discourse,” he said.

Indeed, the public may never know who among the politicians airing their dirty laundry in public is telling the truth, but their remarks have been enough to expose the suspect dealings in the government. Similarly, they have raised questions about the conduct of public officers.

The major question has been why the sensational claims by all parties never came earlier, with some analysts arguing that it was good enough that they were eventually coming out.

In a previous interview, Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi said Ruto and Gachagua were just “playing politics.”

“To me, the Sh10 billion or the Sh2 billion is neither here nor there. None of them has reported the matters to the investigative agencies. None has said how it happened or talked about it sooner,” argued Mwangangi.

However, Gitile Naituli, a professor of leadership and management, argued that the question about why they did not raise the issues sooner was a “distraction.”

“Let us separate the message from the messenger. Let Gachagua fight the demons he once invited into the house. Let him reckon with his past. But as citizens, let us hold onto the truth he now speaks—and use it to demand better leadership, not just from him, but from all those who aspire to lead this country,” said Prof Naituli.

“History has shown us again and again: the truth does not always come from the cleanest hands. Sometimes, it comes from the very people who helped build the house of lies—when they finally walk out. And when they do, we owe it to ourselves to listen,” he added.

Political risk analyst Dismas Mokua warned that the shouting matches had made it challenging for Kenyans to decipher what was true and what was fiction.