Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has emerged with yet more explosive allegations against his former boss, President Ruto.
This time regarding the circumstances leading to his impeachment from office.
In a recent interview, Gachagua talked of earlier claims by the president that he demanded Ksh10 billion to walk away from the deputy presidency.
Gachagua secretly taped meetings with Ruto’s ally, claims verbal abuse from President. Photo: Courtesy.
He strongly denied the claims, doubling down on his initial accusations that he was offered a Ksh2 billion package by the president to resign or else he’d face impeachment.
According to Gachagua, Ruto, through an unnamed “official,” approached him several times with the offer before finally resorting to an impeachment motion.
“That Friday when my (impeachment) case was at the Senate, the president sent an officer to me. He told the officer I should have a conversation with him,” the former DP claimed, adding that he secretly recorded all the conversations. We met somewhere along State House Road. We had a conversation with the president, where I was given that offer again, and I declined. That officer urged me to listen to the president, but I said no.”
The former DP accused Ruto of consistent verbal abuse whenever he tried to question his methods, a dynamic that he claims ultimately led to the breakdown of their relationship.
He went on to cite a conversation he allegedly had with his former boss, where he claims he was insulted for trying to voice concerns against the president’s close aides.
“When he came to Mount Kenya, he tried to drive a narrative also against Gachagua, including this issue of Ksh10 billion. Of course, I did not blackmail the president because if I did, it would have been the first accusation in the Senate. It was just a narrative he wanted to bring to the mountain because he committed himself to never betraying me. He needed something to tell the people of the mountain.”
Talking of the alleged feuds with MPs and close aides of the president, the former DP admitted he was unwilling to take orders from individuals he considered lower in the political hierarchy, a stance he believes led the President’s camp to label him as defiant.
In a previous interview, president Ruto had claimed that Gachagua had demanded Ksh10 billion, threatening that failure to comply would cost him his re-election in 2027.
“At some point, I told Rigathi Gachagua to stop fighting the MPs, but he now shifted his fights to me, claiming that he could make me a one-term president if I did not meet his demands. He demanded Ksh10 billion so that he could go talk with the people of the Mt. Kenya region, but I told him I would not do it. I told him that if I would only serve for one term, then there is no problem. I told him if he is the one who decides who will serve how many terms, then he was at liberty to make that decision,” he noted.
