Africa-Press – Kenya. Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has responded to a Kenyan Gen Z residing in the United States, who asked him to think beyond Mt Kenya in his politics.
According to Gachagua he is not tribal and that is a narrative created by the government because they have nothing against him.
He went on to claim that it is the same thing Ruto did to former President Uhuru Kenyatta and managed to turn the entire community against him.
Gachagua however, said that it is good that Kenyans do not listen to what the Executive says, even as he defended himself, saying that if he should have been tribal, he would not have back Ruto, who is from the Kalenjin community for presidency in 2022.
“My little daughter, Gen Z, William Ruto is an expert in creating narratives; he is very good, and many people fall for it. I have fallen for it before. That narrative that Rigathi Gachagua is tribal is a narrative created by William Ruto because there’s nothing else he can say about me.
“He says Gachagua is tribal, but nobody listens to him in Kenya. Rigathi Gachagua is not tribal because when Ruto stood for presidency, he was not Kikuyu; he was Kalenjin. There was a candidate called Mwaura, if I was tribal I would have supported him not Ruto. When I was supporting him, he had such nice words for me,” Gachagua said during a town hall meeting with Kenyans in US.
He urged the lady identified as Valentine Wanjiru Githae not to fall for such narratives, adding that everyone belongs to a community before identifying as a Kenya.
“My daughter please don’t fall into that narrative. When you are here you talk about Kenyans, not America. Every group of people have some identity, never allow people to make you feel embarrassed about who you are and where you come from.”
Gachagua insisted that he does not believe in negative ethnicity.
He went on to say that if standing with his people is what will make him not become president or anybody in Kenya then so be it.
He insisted that while they are all Kenyans, it does not change the fact that people belong to communities that make up Kenya as a country.
The former DP added that he has good relations with the communities within Kenya.
“I want to assure you my daughter we are good people, I work with everybody. I have travelled, I was in Ukambani I was received like a king, I was in Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi, had a good engagement with the people, I was in Narok, Kajiado, I work well with the Maa, I was in Bungoma, Kakamega and Vihiga, I was appreciated by those people. People of Kisii are waiting for me because they know I’m a nationalist but much as I am, I come from somewhere and I retain the right to speak for them.”
Wanjiru, a representative of the youth-led 625 Movement, directly confronted the former DP over what she termed as divisive rhetoric that undermines national unity.
“We are Gen Zs, and we are here to tell you the truth. And if we do not tell you the truth, we are doomed to fail,” Wanjiru said, urging Gachagua to reframe his political approach if he hopes to challenge President William Ruto effectively in 2027.
While acknowledging her own Kikuyu heritage, she warned against perpetuating ethnic-based leadership narratives.
“If we position ourselves as Kikuyu, another tribe will also do that, and before we know it, we are back to the same problem,” she cautioned.
Wanjiru also took issue with remarks Gachagua made during a rally in Boston, where he described the Kikuyu as the “drivers of the Kenyan economy” due to their hard work.
She argued that such statements reinforce tribal entitlement and ignore the broader contributions of other Kenyan communities.
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