Uhuru is the past; I'm the present and future, Gachagua declares

Former Deputy President and DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua during a political rally at Mulu Mutisya grounds in Machakos town, on May 30, 2025. [John Muia, Standard] Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has laughed off claims that his popularity is under threat following former President Uhuru Kenyatta's return to politics, describing Uhuru as "the past" while asserting himself as "the present and the future." According to Gachagua, no one - including Uhuru - has the capacity to dictate the political direction of the Mt Kenya region, often referred to as "the mountain". He argued that leaders merely align themselves with the electorate's will, not the other way around. In an interview with KTN on Monday night, the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader said the region had already decided to form a new political party rather than revive an old one. "The people of the mountain instructed me to form a new party for the mountain people and then invite other Kenyans to join. There were more than 30 political parties in the mountain; they never told me to revive an old one," Gachagua said. He maintained that the Mt Kenya region would use the DCP to back a presidential candidate of its choice. "They will use their party to support whoever they want to support or support one of their own. That decision has been made, Uhuru can't change it, Gachagua can't change it," he added. The former DP was reacting to Uhuru's renewed efforts to revive the Jubilee Party and the party's move to support former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i - remarks that exposed deepening rifts within the opposition. During the Jubilee Party's Special National Delegates Conference on September 26, Uhuru urged Kenyans to reject regional parties, arguing that political formations should be founded on ideology and policy rather than ethnicity or geography - a message widely interpreted as directed at Gachagua's DCP. "Our aim as Jubilee was to form a political party with a national outlook, a party that would unite all Kenyans, a party whose aim was to focus on regions but to take Kenya as a whole forward," he said. Uhuru also announced plans to hand over the party's leadership - with strong indications that he had chosen Matiang'i as his political successor. During the interview, Gachagua maintained that neither he nor Uhuru could dictate to the Mt Kenya electorate whom to support or which political camp to join. "The people of the mountain take no direction from any leader not even me, they decide what they want and clever leaders alligns with them immediately. Ask Uhuru he told them to vote for ODM leader Raila Odinga in 2022 and they told him no, they had decided to give their votes to Ruto," he said. Gachagua, however, denied having any personal conflict with the former President, accusing the Kenya Kwanza administration of orchestrating State-sponsored propaganda to divide the opposition. "There is no conflict between me and Uhuru. He is retired and cannot run for President again - there can't be a conflict," Gachagua stated. He nonetheless admitted that the opposition had been infiltrated by the government, accusing President Ruto of planting moles within Opposition parties to sow confusion and weaken them ahead of the 2027 general election. On his relationship with Matiang'i, Gachagua said he still believed the former Interior minister was committed to the Opposition cause. He also revealed that before joining the Opposition, its leadership had devised a strategy to advance the "one-term gospel". While Gachagua exuded confidence that the IEBC will conduct free and fair polls, he proposed that tallying and announcement of presidential election results be done at the Constituency level as opposed to the National Tallying Centre to curb election malpractice.

Uhuru is the past; I'm the present and future, Gachagua declares

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Uhuru is the past; I'm the present and future, Gachagua declares

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