The Kenyan vice president is in the eye of the storm

Kenya’s embattled Vice President, Rigathi Gachagua, calls himself a “man of truth”, thanks to his incredible rise because he speaks truth to power.

But as he faces impeachment charges, he says these problems are also the result of his outspokenness.

Before he was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2017, little was known about the man who would rise to become Kenya’s number two in the next five years.

Not many people outside Gachagua’s central Kenya region have heard of him or his political approach.

Gachagua came to the fore in the run-up to the 2022 elections, when he strongly opposed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nomination to succeed him.

Kenyatta was heavily campaigning for former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

But Gachagua aligned himself with William Ruto, who was Kenyatta’s deputy at the time, who was running for the presidency because his boss did not want to leave him.

At political rallies and press conferences, Gachagua lashed out at Kenyatta, making remarks that other politicians would find wanting.

“Don’t kill me the way your father killed JM Kariuki,” he said at a rally in July 2022, talking about. a Member of Parliament who was assassinated in 1975 during Jomo Kenyatta’s administrationthe nation’s first president and father of Uhuru Kenyatta.

To date, no one has been found guilty of Kariuki’s death.

Before he became Kenya’s vice president, the police raided Gachagua’s home and arrested him on charges of corruption and money laundering. The charges were dropped after he and Ruto took power following the 2022 elections.

He helped Ruto win by garnering support from Mount Kenya – the country’s largest electoral bloc. Both Gachagua and Kenyatta came from there. Kenyatta tried to rally Mount Kenya voters to follow Odinga, but failed.

Long before Kenyatta became president in 2013, Gachagua had worked closely with him, including as his assistant for five years.

But after cooperating with Ruto, Gachagua went from being Kenyatta’s “confidant” to one of his fiercest critics.

However, since he fell out with his boss, Gachagua has apologized to Kenyatta, saying it was “stupid” that he “fought with my brother”.

This humility is in stark contrast to his speech as Ruto’s former candidate – commentator Javas Bigamo even described Gachagua as “the feared political dog that Ruto needed to be able to stand up to President Kenyatta in the central region”.

Gachagua was praised as an excellent organizer, who had the ear of the common people on the ground.

However, he was probably not the person many expected to take the position of deputy, because Gachagua had only been a politician for five years and he was facing many veterans.

Ruto explained that he chose Gachagua because “he is one of the leaders who just loves people”.

Political expert Bobby Mkangi earlier told the BBC that Gachagua’s ability to negotiate his way to the top “taking into account some of the more popular and well-known names in the country” was “a big thing”.

But just two years into power, that ability appears to have faded – leaving Gachagua butting heads with the president and in a situation where many legislators are calling for his removal.

He is charged with corruption, money laundering, misconduct, treason and harassment of public officials and six other misdemeanors.

During the presentation of the motion in the House of Parliament on Tuesday, the representative of the House of Parliament who presented the motion, Mwengi Mutuse, said that 291 members of the House of Parliament out of three hundred and forty-nine members signed the petition urging Gachagua to be removed from office.

The signature of two-thirds – or 233 – of all MPs is required to impeach him.

Mkangi now says that the Vice President “could not gather the support of his base and the politicians around him”.

Gachagua has been accused of being bold and aggressive – which is one of the reasons why some have opposed his choice to support his running mate ahead of the 2022 elections. But in recent months, this criticism has increased.

He denies these tests of his personality, and the talk that he is alienating his fellow politicians.

He says that what he is doing is “telling the truth”, which he insists has made him unpopular among certain political circles.

“I will not compromise my principles,” he said over the weekend as calls for impeachment reached a crescendo.

Gachagua often portrays himself as a child of the Mau Mau freedom fighters, who fought against the British colonial rule.

He was born in 1965 to parents who are known for their participation in the freedom struggle. His father built and made guns and his mother was a courier of ammunition and food to fighters, Gachagua said.

His lineage has painted him as a champion of the people in central Kenya, most of whom are descendants of the pioneers of the freedom struggle, but who continue to fight for economic freedom.

A popular catchphrase associated with the vice president is “don’t touch the mountain”, a reference to his support base in the Mount Kenya region. However, he has also been accused of promoting nationalism rather than being a unifying person.

But Gachagua defended himself, insisting that speaking for the Kenyan region is not the same as harassing other communities.

Before joining politics, Gachagua had a long career.

After graduating from university, he started working as a public administrator in the government, and as a regional officer in different areas across the country.

The district administrations of the time, during the presidency of Daniel arap Moi, were known for being strict. It is a suspicion that is attached to him, including the current circumstances.

He served as Kenyatta’s aide between 2001 and 2006 – when Kenyatta was a minister, presidential candidate and later opposition leader.

Gachagua is a rich politician, who made his fortune in business over the years. He is married to a pastor, Dorka, and they have two grown sons.

In 2017, he contested for the Mathira regional office, winning the position previously held by his elder brother, Nderitu Gachagua.

It was at this time that Gachagua’s fiery character and political skills began to attract attention.

Yet his public speaking, both before and after becoming vice president, sometimes comes across as mistakes or outright rude comments.

He said last year that the government is like a company with shares, those who vote for the current administration are the ones who deserve to be appointed and get government contracts.

Senator Danson Mungatana last week said Gachagua’s remarks “set apart the ranks of Kenyans, created and continue to increase ethnic tensions”.

Gachagua has been on the defensive a lot, but he recently admitted that in the end, it may have been the thing that lifted him to the top that led to his downfall: his way with words.