Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has stepped up efforts to shed the image of a politician who only focuses on Mount Kenya and recast himself as a national opposition leader. On Friday, he turned his attention to President William Ruto’s Rift Valley backyard when he visited Emurua Dikirr constituency, Narok County.
Mr Gachagua said he would tour the country to seek support for his presidential bid and market his Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), taking a pause to visit the United States next week before returning to the South Rift.
“I want to assure you as my supporters that we are going round the country seeking support from voters and marketing DCP. Let us walk together in this journey and ensure that we liberate Kenya from the hands of those who have failed you,” Mr Gachagua said.
He said the US tour would enable him to engage Kenyans in the diaspora and donors before resuming his political campaign in the South Rift, including Bomet and Nakuru counties.
“After my tour of the US, I will resume my tour in the South Rift with rallies across constituencies in Bomet county, then go to Kuresoi South and Kuresoi South in Nakuru county as I seek support from members of the Kipsigis community with whom I have a close relation with,” Mr Gachagua said.
The former DP said his ultimate goal was to build a nationwide political movement capable of removing President Ruto from State House in the August 10, 2027 General Election.
“I want to assure you that I have been accepted across the country as a Presidential candidate and I am here (Narok) at the invitation of the Kipsigis and Maasai communities in the South Rift region. I want to engage them and understand their issues so that we can move forward together,” Mr Gachagua said.
DCP Party Leader Rigathi Gachagua addresses the media at the party’s Nakuru offices in Milimani on August 15, 2026. Gachagua accused Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen and Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama of organizing goons to attack his convoy while it was en route to Soko Mjinga for a rally in Kaptwembo on Friday.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
The Emurua Dikirr visit, which included visiting the family of the constituency’s late MP Johana Ngeno, is significant for Mr Gachagua as he seeks to overcome a political identity largely associated with Mount Kenya and the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru communities.
He has in recent years been criticised for advancing the interests of his political backyard, including his controversial “shares” narrative that government benefits should first go to communities that voted for the administration.
Political analysts say his latest outreach suggests a deliberate attempt to transform himself into a national opposition figure.
Herman Manyora said Mr Gachagua appeared to be doing the heavy lifting for the opposition.
“He appears to understand the ingredients that are needed to assemble an opposition. He is now seen moving out of his base to reach out to other regions. His mobilisation and oratory skills with panel beating here and there will help the struggling opposition,” he said.
DCP Secretary General designate John Methu said Mr Gachagua was preparing for a nationwide political campaign, while DCP Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala said the party would increasingly adopt a more outward-looking approach.
“Beyond the propaganda that our detractors love to spread against us, we have not been a tribal outfit. We are now taking deliberate move to prove to the whole world that this is the same Mr Gachagua who defied former President Uhuru Kenyatta and campaigned for Dr Ruto,” Mr Malala said.
He cited DCP’s by-election victories in ward mini-polls in Nairobi, Kakamega and Narok counties, as well as its strong performances in Emurua Dikirr and Magarini constituencies and Purko Ward in Kajiado County.
Mr Gachagua has also indicated that his political outreach will extend beyond rallies. On August 20, 2026, while hosting his Wamunyoro village neighbours, he said his consultations ahead of the 2027 election had convinced him he could play a bigger national role.
“As I conclude my conclave on August 24, 2026, my engagements have told me that I have the potential to shape the political discourse in a bigger way. We have deliberately sought to change tact and pursue a more impactful exercise of our politics to make our Mt Kenya base the pillar for national outreach,” he said.
Mr Gachagua said he had spent considerable time consolidating his Mount Kenya support before venturing into other regions.
He claimed to have the backing of the larger Mount Kenya region, one million in Nairobi, one million Maasai voters and 600,000 Kipsigis voters in the South Rift.
He said he would later sit down with opposition leaders, including Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Dr Fred Matiang’i of Jubilee, to chart a strategy for defeating President Ruto.
President Ruto has dismissed opposition leaders as lacking a plan and vision for the country, while seeking a second term with the support of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), led by Dr Oburu Odinga, who succeeded his younger brother, the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Mr Gachagua accused the President of neglecting his Rift Valley base in favour of opposition strongholds.
“President Ruto has abandoned the residents of the South Rift region who voted for him and me almost to a man in the last general election, and focused his development agenda in opposition strongholds. In the course of it, the residents of the region have dumped him and UDA,” Mr Gachagua said.
He also claimed that the President had neglected his own backyard while directing resources to areas that opposed him.
“In the Emurua Dikirr by-election, the people were on their own while in Ol Kalou huge resources were channeled, yet the people voted against UDA,” Mr Gachagua said.
He added: “President Ruto has been rejected in all parts of the country including Nyanza and Western regions where he has been focusing on. He has been left with the people of the North Rift only as the Kipsigis in the South Rift have abandoned him.”
Mr Gachagua’s visit came despite earlier threats from Emurua Dikirr MP David Keter and Narok Deputy Governor Tamalinye Koech, who had warned him against visiting the area.
He said he was pleased that the visit proceeded without the anticipated confrontation.
The former DP also sought to deepen ties between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities, promising to bring elders from the two communities together ahead of the 2027 election.
“As we approach the next general election, the two communities need to work together, shun those out to divide them to turn against each other,” Mr Gachagua stated.
DCP’s candidate in the Ol Kalou by-election Kamau Ngotho with party leader Rigathi Gachagua at the party headquarters in Nairobi on May 12, 2026.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
He also pledged to help DCP secure the Narok gubernatorial position in 2027 and promised that all communities would be represented in the county government.
DCP’s support in Narok has grown in recent elections. In the November 2025 Narok Town civic by-election, DCP candidate Douglas Twala Masikonte defeated UDA candidate Robert Kanyinke Ole Kudate, garnering 6,007 votes against 4,479.
In the May 14 Emurua Dikirr by-election, DCP candidate David Kibet Rotich came second with 10,760 votes, behind UDA’s David Keter, who secured 18,266 votes.
Mr Gachagua urged residents to back Mr Rotich in the 2027 election.
“I am appealing to you the people of Emurua Dikirr to support Mr Rotich in the next General Election as he is a peaceful, focused and determined leader with ability to fit into the shoes of former MP Johana Ngeno,” Mr Gachagua stated.
The former DP also condemned killings in Angata Barikoi in Kilgoris constituency linked to land ownership and cattle-rustling disputes.
“The list I have of the people who have been killed by security officers in the dispute over land which some senior politicians are after is heartbreaking,” Mr Gachagua said.
He added: “Why should people be killed like chickens on their own land by a government they supported?”
The government has been accused of failing to resolve the land dispute, while police have been accused of complacency and complicity in cattle-rustling incidents involving Kipsigis and Maasai communities along the Migori-Narok border.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot and Principal Secretary for Lands Nixon Korir have, however, said the government has bought land to settle affected families and end the disputes.
Mr Gachagua’s latest political offensive comes after months of consultations following his June 16, 2026, conclave at his Wamunyoro village home.
His allies say the strategy is to turn his Mount Kenya base into the foundation of a broader national coalition rather than abandon it.
Mumias East MP Peter Salasya said Mr Gachagua was already working behind the scenes to build broader political partnerships.
“You will be shocked when Mr Gachagua emerges in his true colours. He is uniting Mt Kenya with serious blocs. He is actively in dialogue with leaders from various parts of the country. He has been instrumental in bringing out an exchange programme where we are sharing loyalists to work in fringe parties. Reason you see Murang’a governor working in Linda Mwananchi, I together with Nyali MP Mohammed Ali in DCP rallies as well as Jamleck Kamau and Ndegwa Njiru in Wiper…” he said.
Mr Gachagua’s challenge will now be to convert his growing political visibility outside Mount Kenya into a durable national coalition while maintaining the support that has made him a formidable political force in his traditional base.
In 2022, Mount Kenya presidential votes went to Dr William Ruto (85 percent) and Mr Raila Odinga (12 percent), marking the first time the region overwhelmingly backed a presidential candidate from outside its mother tongue.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, however, was sceptical of Mr Gachagua’s ability to overcome his past political image.
“Mr Gachagua will need a miracle to transform himself from tribal package he is and the awkward manner-less bully he has become to make national impact,” Mr Kiunjuri told Nation.
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