Gachagua Draws Fire for Accusing Kenya Government in U.S.
If there's one thing Kenyan politicians agree on right now, it's that Rigathi Gachagua crossed a serious line. The former Deputy President's whirlwind trip to the U.S. turned explosive after he went on air accusing President William Ruto’s administration of human rights violations and even ties to terrorist groups. That’s not just any dressing down—it’s a salvo that quickly boomeranged back home.
Gachagua, who now pilots the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), wasn’t speaking at some political rally in his backyard; he aired Kenya’s dirty laundry half a world away, at a media roundtable in Kansas. He alleged that the U.S. should investigate police brutality, abductions, and even murder happening under Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza regime. And then he went further—claiming the Kenyan President had links to Al-Shabaab militia and had played a role in financing Sudan’s notorious Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to him, clandestine meetings and shadowy deals had put Kenya’s state secrets and alliances in danger.
Gachagua also took a direct swipe at the release of five Kenyan chiefs from Mandera who were earlier abducted, suggesting negotiation with Al-Shabaab spearheaded by the former Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki. He said he had evidence and would gladly offer it to American authorities, apparently trying to make Washington rethink Kenya’s position as a preferred non-NATO ally.
Backlash at Home: Loyalty and Patriotism in Question
The reaction in Kenya was swift and messy. At a burial in Ikolomani, Kakamega County—a sober moment that turned political—Ikolomani MP Bernard Shinali didn’t mince words. He called Gachagua’s actions “unpatriotic” and an outright violation of his oath. "A true leader should keep the secrets of the office,” Shinali fired, echoing a sentiment shared by many who felt Kenya’s international standing had just taken a blow.
Stanley Livondo, a Kenya-Zambia businessman whose mother’s funeral was the event’s backdrop, chimed in as well. He told the Kenyan diaspora in no uncertain terms to steer clear of Gachagua’s brand of politics. "It is so shameful to go to the USA to talk ill of your government," Livondo insisted, pressing the overseas community to support, not undermine, the home government’s reputation.
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen was equally firm. He described Gachagua’s statements as “reckless” and a dangerous move for national security, stressing the need for boundaries even in heated political rivalries. It’s a reminder that while political fighting is nothing new, dragging national security and foreign relationships into the mud has serious consequences.
Amid the turmoil, Gachagua did something unusual for a politician on a cross-continental mission: he cut his three-week U.S. tour short, heading back to Kenya. His stated reason? To get his party ready for up-coming by-elections. Whether that’s the full story or he felt the political heat rising back home—he didn’t say.
The episode leaves big questions hanging. Is airing government secrets abroad ever justified, especially when the stakes involve national security and global alliances? Or did Gachagua, by triggering this storm, just put his political future—and perhaps more—at risk?
