Sunday 18th May, 2025 03:05 PM|

Naivasha Member of Parliament (MP) Jayne Kihara has come to the staunch defence of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, stating that his recent remarks concerning the 2027 general election have been misinterpreted and taken entirely out of context.

Speaking when she accompanied Gachagua for a church service at the Christ’s Joy Christian Church in Gatanga, Murang’a County, on Sunday, May 18, 2025, Kihara took direct aim at Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, who has been criticising Gachagua over the remarks, accusing him of distorting the message in order to portray Gachagua as a figure inciting unrest.

“You cannot claim to be seeking unity with Gachagua when you are the very individual who has worked to push him out of national politics. What Gachagua stated clearly was that if the 2027 elections are manipulated, then Kenya will not remain as it is, and this warning is specifically aimed at Minister Murkomen,” she said.

Kihara insisted that Gachagua’s statement was not in any way a threat but rather a firm and necessary caution against the possible rigging of the 2027 elections.

She emphasised that distorting such a warning into a tale of incitement was both deceitful and politically reckless and insisted that Gachagua had merely been speaking candidly to the Kenya Kwanza administration in an effort to dispel the illusion they seemed to harbour that they could manipulate the outcome of the polls.

 “He never claimed that unrest would follow his loss in the election; he simply said that if the polls are rigged, then the country will face consequences.”

Further, Kihara castigated President William Ruto’s administration for being excessively preoccupied with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua since the launch of his new political party, and she remarked that she wonders whether they truly have no other meaningful responsibilities to attend to.

She took a pointed jab particularly at President Ruto, saying that he, along with members of his inner circle, appears to have entirely forgotten that they already have their own political party, yet they are now utterly fixated on showcasing and discussing Gachagua at every opportunity.

“There are individuals who keep moving around promoting our party, because ever since it was launched, the other side has had nothing else to speak about. They do not even talk about their own party anymore; now all they talk about is our party,” she added.

Kihara then warned President Ruto not to assume that Kenyans are buying into what she described as his tribalist narrative, where he attempts to portray Gachagua as the architect of ethnic division, saying that he cannot isolate Gachagua and at the same time claim that he himself is not driven by tribalism.

She maintained that by politically sidelining Gachagua, the president had sent a very strong signal that he no longer desires any political connection with the Kikuyu community, and she went further to accuse him of being out of touch with the public mood, describing him as the most tribal-minded leader Kenya has ever had.

“There is something I want to tell President Ruto. When you go around telling Kenyans that your role is to unite the country, excluding Rigathi Gachagua means you have no regard whatsoever for the Kikuyu people. You cannot tell us that you are uniting Kenyans, yet you are the very one who sent Gachagua away,” she concluded.

Earlier, while speaking in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, on Saturday, May 17, 2025, Murkomen lashed out at Gachagua over 2027 general election remarks, warning that such utterances are enough to disqualify him from seeking public office.

Murkomen expressed outrage over what he termed as reckless incitement, referencing Gachagua’s suggestion that the next election could be more violent than the 2007-2008 post-election crisis.

“I am disappointed that a leader who once held a senior office in this country is telling Kenyans that the 2027 elections will be more violent than 2007-2008. That kind of statement alone is enough to bar that person from holding any public office—forget impeachment and the rest,” Murkomen said.

Murkomen offered firm assurances that the current administration would not tolerate any form of incitement to violence.

“I want to assure the people of Trans Nzoia—I know here we have all tribes, all religions, all nationalities. We will not allow our country to ever return to any form of violence. Never again. That is impossible. Not when Kipchumba is the Minister of Security. Not when William Ruto is the President of Kenya,” he affirmed.

Murkomen characterised the 2007-2008 post-election violence as a painful lesson for Kenya, saying the country had closed “that chapter of violence” in favour of peaceful political competition based on programmes and manifestos.

“2007 and 2008 were a lesson for this country so that we could close that chapter of violence. Moving forward, it will be about competition of ideas, about policies, about manifestos,” he stated.