The fall and rise of Riggy, Rogue G
He was supposed to politically die three weeks after his impeachment. In fact, he almost died on the day of his impeachment. From a pressure-related illness. Then Kenyans healed him. Through their usual empathetic treatment of political underdogs.
History will treat the Kenyan people well. They are peculiar, unpredictable, and very complicated.
When President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga pushed UhuRuto to the Hague in 2010, Kenyans rallied around them and elected the duo president and DP, despite life sentence-threatening allegations promised on capital and life sentence offences.
Less than a year after impeachment in 2024, Gachagua is a household name. He has metamorphosed into a political beast, coining anti-government slogans that the state is struggling to twist.
With Raila now knee-deep in government, Gachagua is the biggest political threat to his former boss and bosom friend, President William Ruto.
It’s unclear whether Gachagua and President Ruto were friends in the first place…or were united in their political hatred of President Kenyat
Since swapping roles following the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua as DP, Raila Odinga has been reduced to a regional kingpin and is gasping for political oxygen outside Luo Nyanza.
This is the evidence. Raila has lost his Western Kenya charm to maverick Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.
Sifuna is today the Bukusu king-elect, waiting for coronation once the dust settles.
Meanwhile, Kakamega, another Raila bastion, is falling out of his political grasp…like a raw goat liver.
DCP Secretary General Cleophas Malala and maverick veteran legislator Senator Dr. Bonny Khalwale have radicalized the once Raila bedroom. Today, Baba can’t hold a political rally in Kakamega without spending a fortune.
Kakamega Senator Fernandes Barasa is an ODM insider. But even he is finding it hard to stop the Gachagua wave in the land of Mulembe.
Musalia Mudavadi, the man who fueled the Gachagua ouster, now looks aloof, haggard, and politically beaten politically.
Musalia, the Prime Cabinet Secretary, appear to be manufacturing another political earthquake…or even retiring from politics, which he joined in 1989.
So why is Gachagua gaining momentum in Western Kenya?
After parting ways with Jaramogi Oginga to form FORD Asili, fiery opposition figure Kenneth Matiba teamed up with Matin Shikuku to kill Moi in Western Kenya. Other than the Ababukusu and parts of Maragori, Luhias voted for Matiba to a man.
Gachagua is mirroring his politics on Matiba. The Madiba magic and Wamunyoro opium are products of political betrayal. Matiba by Moi, Gachagua by yours truly.
Matiba and Gachagua are fearless Kikuyu henchmen. But Gachagua has extended his influence to Meru, Ukambani, Embu and Tharaka Nithi.
