Gachagua, Kalonzo and Wamalwa join forces, vow to make Ruto a one term President

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (center) with DAP- Kenya party Eugene Wamalwa (right) and Wiper party counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka during the launch of new DAP- Kenya party headquarters in Karen, Nairobi on January 27th 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard] A new coalition, whose name is yet to be revealed, is united against President William Ruto and has now vowed to make him enter the annals of history as a one-term president. Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader, Eugene Wamalwa yesterday brought several political leaders together as he launched his party headquarters in Nairobi, with a message of an upcoming coalition to dethrone Ruto in the 2027 General Election. For the first time, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka shared a podium to castigate Ruto's governance and dismissed him as a leader who does not deserve a second chance. At the same time, after months of speculation, it is now out in the open that former Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i is joining the team, also to fight a 'common political enemy'. Although Matiang'i did not attend the event in person, he was represented by Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka to deliver his message of intent to work with the team. In a scathing attack, leader after leader said the journey to liberate the country from shackles of corruption, dictatorship, abductions and poor leadership, which they claimed has reached an almost unmanageable level. Gachagua claimed State House has become a centre of corruption, where deals are negotiated and no one, including him, was allowed to disrupt those meetings once they were in session. "We are part of this team and will walk this journey together to liberate this country. We will make whatever sacrifices necessary to make sure Ruto is a one-term president," he said. In a sustained onslaught against Ruto, Gachagua said he was an insider in Government and is well versed with how Ruto operates, adding that once they are done with building a new party, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) will be a shell of its former self. "President Ruto has a very short memory. This team here, we sat with him in my house and assured him that he would be President and we will do whatever it takes to make sure he is President. We took him to State House and when he reached there, he put aside everything we had agreed on how we need Kenya to be. He continued: "We had agreed on the bottom-up economic model of putting money into people's pockets. The minute he reached State House he changed course, got a small team of economic advisors and came up with a very brutal program of removing whatever little money was in people's pockets from their pockets." Gachagua, who is preparing to launch his party in the coming days, said he is part of the team and together with his Mt Kenya counterparts, they will walk the journey together to liberate the country. He said he is ready to make whatever sacrifices necessary to ensure that Ruto is a one-term President, adding that the team should not let Kenyans down. "He is very bitter, extremely angry, and very irritable that for a whole six days, he is abusing me in Western Kenya. Rigathi Gachagua is not a road in Webuye, he is not a hospital in Vihiga, he is not a slaughterhouse in Bungoma. President has gone to Western for six days just talking about Rigathi Gachagua and occasionally Kalonzo because he is bitter that his voting bloc, the one that made him President, the Mt Kenya bloc is gone and gone forever," he said. According to Gachagua, his supporters have urged him to seek friendship with other people who can unseat Ruto. "We shall be selfless as a team and let us not approach these elections with a predetermined mindset that it has to be my way. We need to sit down and do proper arithmetic so that we do not fight each other. This journey is not for the faint-hearted, we do not have money to buy fear but with the great leaders, we will work together and unveil a national movement," he affirmed. Gachagua also said Ruto has no moral authority to speak about corruption, even as he claimed that he was once talked down by one of the President's close allies he described as a school dropout, for failing to defend government projects. "State House is the real centre of corrupt activities. Mr President, look for a mirror and look at yourself first before you talk about corruption. You said I was incompetent and indeed, in matters about lying to Kenyans, I am incompetent," he uttered. Gachagua also claimed that the affordable housing programme had been made of the worst frauds in Government, saying that they initially believed in the President until it came to such a point that it was turned into a business venture. He claimed schemes where sub-contracts are first signed with companies to supply materials and the business has to keep running, hence the push to implement the programme. The former DP said that one of the major issues to be implemented once a new Government is in place is to restore the dignity of pay slips for over 3 million Kenyans who have been subjected to pay cuts to extreme levels. The former DP said that Ruto has lost at least 4 million votes from Mt Kenya and is now cornered for losing a huge voting bloc, which he now describes as tribal. Kalonzo absolved Wiper party from delay in establishing IEBC saying that they are afraid of being recalled as the Constitution provides. Musyoka alleged that IEBC was reportedly receiving instructions to advertise for tenders despite the fact that it is not properly constituted. "They have already put a tender to procure in the next three years without a substantive IEBC in place. It's already on their website, they are already in a hurry and it is like this is a test case," Kalonzo said. "I want to prepare our people that now IEBC panel is in place, prepare to recall them because they have acted unjustly, supported corruption, and above all stood for Government that abducts its own citizens," he said. He also said they were all gathered yesterday to witness a new beginning, saying that they must open up to bring everyone on board in the journey of replacing Ruto in the elections. "Matiang'i recommended a technical team to consult further so that we do not leave anybody out. When Ruto is consolidating other parties to join UDA, we will open the space for more to join this team. There is no room for division," said Kalonzo. He lashed out at Ruto for attempts to isolate the Mt Kenya region or any part of the country. "This is not possible. We want to tell Ruto that the mountain is not isolatable. The country is united against one person called William Ruto. Have you asked yourself why you are not seeing opinion polls these days? It is simple, this administration is enjoying the lowest opinion rating since independence. Will they really win? Kalonzo posed. Wamalwa affirmed that they are broadening the opposition and there will also be a special day to unveil the new name of the coalition. "The next government is being formed today (Monday). Ruto should know that the die is cast. We also want to state that what was said last week during the presidential tour does not represent Western and we will not allow ourselves to be taken back. He is joining the ranks of a one-term president and this is the team to send you home," Wamalwa stated. He said they are united to remove Ruto from office despite DAP-K's move to delink from Azimio la Umoja. On his part, Onyonka delivered Matiang'i's message that he will work with like-minded leaders in the journey to form a new government. "Matiang'i, who is working with World Bank called me and said he will come back to Kenya to be with other leaders. Matiang'i is an equal partner," he said.

Gachagua, Kalonzo and Wamalwa join forces, vow to make Ruto a one term President

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Gachagua, Kalonzo and Wamalwa join forces, vow to make Ruto a one term President

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