By Osman Ali Hassan
“If any tribe tries to set itself up against the Kikuyu, we must fight them in the same way that we died fighting the British settlers. No uncircumcised leaders [for example, the Luo] will be allowed to compete with the Kikuyu. You shall not vote for any party not led by the Kikuyu. If you reveal this oath, may this oath kill you Gikuyu oath
The Kenya’s political landscape has never been immune to inflammatory rhetoric, ethnopolitical manipulation, and historical revisionism. Yet, the recent resurgence of divisive narratives by a former impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has escalated tensions to a dangerous new level. By branding Kenyan Somalis as “non-Kenyans” and linking them to Al-Shabaab, while simultaneously reviving the painful history of Gikuyu political oaths tied to Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta. This figure as former Deputy president of Kenya has revived old wounds and fueled new suspicions among Kenyan fabric. His blind political zeal misses’ critical realities of Kenyan Somalis, far from being outsiders, are part of Kenya’s social fabric at home and abroad, including in the diaspora communities in the United States and as registered voters in Kenya’s electoral system. This intertwined layers of historical grievances, political opportunism, and the weaponization of identity in Kenya’s politics that carries this kind of dangerous of reckless political speech, the enduring scars of the Kenyatta oath era, and the profound political miscalculation of alienating a community whose transnational presence holds significant electoral weight here in the US is an alarming case.
The political life of the former impeached Deputy President Gachagua is a story rooted in the long shadow of Kenya’s authoritarian past. His journey began during the presidency of Daniel Arap Moi, when he served as a District Officer (DO), a position that, during the one-party era, wielded immense local power. In those years, the DO was not merely an administrator; he was the face of the state, the enforcer of the regime’s will, and the gatekeeper of resources in rural Kenya. As Mr. Gachagua, a mare DO under Moi’s patronage network, he mastered the art of political survival through loyalty to the regime and manipulation of local authority. This period also became the foundation of his personal fortune. By leveraging his position, he built deep connections with local contractors, businessmen, and political brokers, using state resources as bargaining chips through contracts, tenders, and land allocations passed through his hands, and those who sought his favor paid in kind, whether through cash, livestock, or political allegiance.
What led the impeachment of Kenya’s former Deputy President was the culmination of years of political tension, personal arrogance, and deep-seated mistrust that had been building from the very moment he assumed office. His political story began long before the deputy presidency, during the authoritarian era of President Daniel Arap Moi, when he served as a District Officer’s role that in the one-party KANU state was both feared and envied. As a District Officer, he wielded the power of the central government at the grassroots level, controlling administrative decisions, the allocation of resources, and the implementation of Moi’s political directives. It was in this position that he mastered the art of patronage politics, building a loyal network of local influencers, contractors, and businessmen who benefited from his influence over government tenders, land allocation, and security decisions. By the time Moi’s regime ended, he had accumulated vast, uncountable wealth whose origins were never clearly documented, much of it suspected to have come from inflated procurement deals, kickbacks, and manipulation of state contracts. This wealth became the financial muscle that sustained his political ambitions in later years, giving him the ability to fund campaigns, command loyalty, and portray himself as a man of means and influence.
When Gachagua rose to the position of Deputy President, his relationship with President William Ruto was initially portrayed as a partnership of equals political marriage forged by necessity rather than genuine trust. They came together to defeat common rivals, riding on promises of unity, economic revival, and a clean break from Kenya’s old politics of corruption and ethnic exclusion. But beneath the public smiles, there was already a quiet calculation by both men. President Ruto believed in him as a powerful vote mobilizer and political enforcer. This is where the Deputy President Gachagua saw the opportunity of the presidency itself as his inevitable next step. From the first year of service in office as Deputy President, the cracks began to show. His assertive style, often bordering on arrogance, made him a polarizing figure within the cabinet. Senior ministers and civil servants complained of his tendency to bypass established procedures, issue unilateral directives, and interfere in ministerial mandates that did not fall under his office. The anti-corruption agency reports began to surface of public resources being diverted to projects in regions that were politically loyal to Gachagua-the impeached deputy president, as part of building a personal political base for his expected presidential run.
President Ruto could not stand with his corruption allegations dogged in him persistently, and while some of them could be dismissed as political smear campaigns, others were supported by credible anti-corruption agency investigative reports, parliamentary committees, the Auditor-General’s reports, and leaked procurement documents pointed to questionable deals in infrastructure projects, inflated costs in public works contracts, and the mysterious acquisition of prime properties by companies linked to his associates. And make the matters worse, the president realized very late that his Deputy was running a parallel shadow government, one that used public resources for personal political gain while undermining the authority of the President. These accusations became more difficult to ignore as the Deputy President began to openly challenge the President’s policies, criticize cabinet decisions, and court opposition figures to build his own political coalition in preparation for the next election. The breaking point came when Gachagua- the Impeached Deputy President’s political maneuvering started to resemble outright defiance, in where several high-profile cases, he publicly contradicted the President on matters of national policy, from security operations to economic strategies. This made the cabinet meetings turned tense, with reports of verbal confrontations between the two leaders. while at the same time, behind closed doors, the Deputy President and his loyalists began leaking confidential government information to political rivals and foreign actors, both to embarrass the administration and to gain political capital.
Similarly, Gachagua’s office was implicated in using state intelligence and security resources for personal political surveillance, targeting opponents and even members of the President’s inner circle. Hence, the public image of the Deputy President suffered as his personal wealth became a subject of national debate. For example, the Kenyan activists, journalists, and opposition leaders openly questioned how a man whose entire career had been in public service could accumulate such vast real estate holdings, luxury vehicles, and business investments without any transparent trail of legitimate income. In addition to this, Gachagua’s allegations of land grabbing, illegal tender awards, and money laundering as usual practiced like that of Moi government began to gain traction, especially as investigative journalists uncovered links between his known associates and companies awarded lucrative government contracts without competitive bidding. These scandals were amplified by his own combative nature; rather than offering credible explanations, he often dismissed his critics as enemies of progress, political losers, or foreign-funded agents.
By Osman Ali Hassan
Email: abayounis1968@gmail.com