Ruto: Why I can't work with Rigathi Gachagua

President William Ruto appears to have drawn a clear line between the opposition leaders he is willing to work with and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ahead of the 2027 elections.

Asked whether he could work with the opposition leaders mobilising to end his rule, Dr Ruto said he was open to working with political leaders across the divide, but ruled out any leader he believes “promotes ethnic bigotry, divisive rhetoric or insults against other Kenyans”.

His remarks may have offered the clearest explanation yet of why his once-close political partnership with Mr Gachagua collapsed and why, despite his willingness to work with other opposition figures, he does not see the former DP as a possible partner.

“I am a democrat, you know, and in Kenya, people work with everybody,” Dr Ruto said. “I would, however, be reluctant to work with any leader who does not share the tenet of nationality, of the unity of the nation. Somebody who believes in ethnic bigotry. Somebody who engages in rhetoric that is divisive, tribal, ethnic, against other people, other Kenyans. Those ones I am not, I cannot work with. I am very clear in my mind.”

The President added another qualification, saying he could not work with leaders who insult women using what he described as “unprintable names”.

It is a striking position from a president who has repeatedly presented himself as willing to accommodate former political opponents.

His account of his relationship with the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga provides the contrast.

He described Raila as a “phenomenal person” and recalled how the two had moved from political rivals to partners in the broad-based government. He said their cooperation was possible because they shared fundamental perspectives on the direction of the country and, crucially, because Raila supported efforts to stabilise Kenya during a period of political tension.

The president’s message was therefore not that he was opposed to working with opposition leaders. Rather, he appeared to be setting conditions for cooperation—national unity, respect for other communities, constitutionalism and a willingness to put the country’s interests ahead of ethnic mobilisation.

That distinction is central to understanding why Mr Gachagua is a different proposition.

The Democracy for the Citizen’s Party (DCP) leader’s political rise has been closely associated with his mobilisation of the Mt Kenya region.

Mr Gachagua, together with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Jubilee Deputy Leader Dr Fred Matiang’i, People’s Liberation Party chief Martha Karua, her Democratic Party counterpart Justin Muturi and DAP-Kenya’s Eugene Wamalwa, have formed “the United Alternative Government,” as their umbrella to dislodge President Ruto from power.

As President Ruto’s running mate in 2022, he played a crucial role in consolidating support for Kenya Kwanza in the vote-rich region. But their relationship deteriorated after they took office, eventually culminating in his impeachment and removal from the Deputy Presidency in October 2024.

Since leaving government, Mr Gachagua has increasingly positioned himself as a leading voice of the Mt Kenya region and a central figure in the opposition’s campaign against President Ruto. His political language has often revolved around the interests of the mountain region.

President Ruto’s statement during the exclusive interview at State House Nairobi was that this is precisely the type of politics he cannot accommodate. He spoke of leaders who divide Kenyans into “traitors and enemies” and who use what he termed as ethnic rhetoric to demean other citizens.

He also pointed to the circumstances surrounding Mr Gachagua’s impeachment, arguing that the process should be viewed in the context of the former DP’s conduct.

“The impeachment was a constitutional exercise done by members of Parliament,” Dr Ruto said, before arguing that Kenyans could now understand why such an action was taken.

The President’s argument is politically significant because Mr Gachagua’s supporters have presented his removal as part of a broader political assault on the Mt Kenya community.

Rather than portraying Mr Gachagua as a victim of ethnic politics, President Ruto is presenting him as a politician whose own rhetoric risks deepening ethnic divisions.

For Mr Gachagua, the politics of the Mountain can be framed as a demand for recognition, bargaining power and protection of community interests. For President Ruto, the same politics risks undermining the national coalition he wants to build.

The President’s position also reflects his broader political pitch that Kenya’s future cannot be organised around one community against another. He has repeatedly argued that his government should be judged by its national programmes rather than ethnic arithmetic. In the interview, he challenged his competitors to offer Kenyans alternative policies rather than relying on slogans, insults and political attacks.

The rejection of Mr Gachagua is particularly striking because of how important he was to President Ruto’s rise to State House. In 2022, the two were a formidable political partnership. Mr Gachagua was the choice for running mate after an intensely competitive search for a candidate Dr Ruto would partner with to win the Mt Kenya vote.

Their partnership worked electorally. But the relationship deteriorated rapidly once they entered government.

The two leaders disagreed over appointments, the distribution of government resources, the treatment of Mt Kenya and the direction of the administration. Mr Gachagua increasingly accused the government of neglecting the region, while Dr Ruto’s allies accused him of pursuing a regional agenda at the expense of the national government.

The conflict eventually became too deep to contain. Mr Gachagua’s impeachment formally ended his tenure, but it did not end his political ambitions. Instead, it transformed him from President Ruto’s deputy into one of his most persistent opponents.

Today, Mr Gachagua is seeking to assemble a broad opposition alliance, while simultaneously consolidating his influence in Mt Kenya. That puts the two men on opposite sides of the 2027 political contest.

President Ruto appears willing to reconcile with political opponents where he believes there is a common national purpose. What he appears to reject is cooperation that, in his view, is built around ethnic mobilisation or political hostility.

He described himself as a democrat and said Kenyan politics required leaders to work across political lines. His cooperation with Raila, he argued, proved that political rivals could put aside their differences when national interests demanded it.

But political cooperation, in his view, cannot come at the expense of national unity. That makes Mr Gachagua’s current political strategy particularly problematic for the president.

The former DP is attempting to build an opposition coalition in which he would use Mt Kenya’s political weight as a bargaining tool. His messaging has increasingly focused on the region’s grievances and political interests.

But President Ruto sees that approach as incompatible with his own vision of a national coalition. He said his position goes beyond a personal quarrel with his former deputy, but is an attempt to define the type of political alliance he wants going into 2027.

He wants opposition figures who can disagree with him without, in his telling, turning political competition into ethnic confrontation. He also wants leaders who can present alternative programmes rather than simply mobilise anger against him.

Political pundits say that the political significance of Dr Ruto’s position will become clearer as the 2027 contest takes shape.

Mr Gachagua has already emerged as one of the most prominent figures seeking to weaken President Ruto’s support in Mt Kenya. His challenge is to convert regional influence into a national coalition capable of competing for State House.

President Ruto’s challenge is to prevent the opposition from turning the Mt Kenya question into a national referendum against his administration.

His strategy, judging from the interview, is to portray himself as the leader willing to work with anyone who shares a national agenda, while portraying Mr Gachagua as the exception because of what he considers, in his own words, “divisive ethnic politics”.

The president’s comments were more than another exchange between former political allies, but a declaration of the limits of reconciliation. He noted that political differences can be negotiated, electoral rivalries can be overcome, and former enemies can become partners.

With 2027 approaching, the president holds that the door to reconciliation remains open, but not to a politics he believes threatens the unity of the country.

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