20/10/2024
This is a shared post on Rigathe Gachagua. I am not the author though I agree with many of the things therein.
Authour *Kipkalya Kones*
I've had a problem with the Gachagua political philosophy for a long time.
Long before he became DP, he was the face and practitioner of the most primitive political style ever witnessed in this country. He reminded me of Kihika Kimani of the 1970s. I just couldn't tell which one of them was worse. But both thrived in a brand of politics deliberately geared towards dehumanising the Luo community and its leaders. And neither of them could stop.
It may not occur to a non discerning eye, but it is this rabid anti-Luo philosophy that ultimately led to the final fallout between Ruto and Gachagua; starting when Ruto appointed Gen Ogola as CDF, escalating when reports emerged that Ruto was talking to Raila and exploding when Raila's people joined government.
The one thing Gachagua was finally unable to accept was that Prof Njuguna Ndung'u was replaced at Treasury by a mere . How dare Ruto take hard-earned Kikuyu money and put it in the hands of "these fish mongers?" Does Ruto think "hii watu ya mawe" know how to generate or guard wealth?
But let's go back a bit to the time when Uhuru had the military renovating the Port of Kisumu and establishing the Kenya Shipyards Limited. Gachagua, then merely one of the leading UDA mouthpieces, lost his head. He went on a massive campaign to de-platform Uhuru in the Mount Kenya region, alleging that the President had channelled all coffee, tea and milk funding to "ile watu".
If you notice one thing so far, Gachagua never refers to Luos or Luoland by name. It's usually "hiyo watu" or "ile watu ya...", the latter often ending with derogatory references to "mawe" "kelele" or "reli". Like Kihika before him, Gachagua had long decided that a certain community was too base and too lowly to deserve anything. To Ruto, who has worked closely with Luos before, it became difficult sustaining this Gachagua doctrine if he wanted to remain President.
What shocks me the most is that when the time came for Gachagua to deservedly fall, many Luos I know had sympathy for him. The historical anti-Luo political system in this country irks me so bad that even if I found a practitioner in the process of being lynched, the best I would do is to pop open another can of Tusker to intoxicate my lactose-intolerant intestines!
This country obviously underestimates the long term harm caused by someone in high office going all over the country preaching tribal divisions in the era of Artificial Intelligence. In every way, Gachagua has been here with us, but he may as well have popped straight out of the stone age. There is a level of tribal rhetoric that doesn't belong to this era. Besides, there is no precedent where a VP or DP in this country has ever gone all out to divide the nation in the manner of Gachagua.
I have worked with and for some politicians. The two most inclusive politicians in this country, without any fear of contradiction, are Raila and . There is even a joke among Luos when campaigning for Raila that "once we get it, he won't even remember us". The joke emanates from Raila's perennial attachment to marginalised communities. When there are any goodies to be shared out and Raila is in the room, Luos invariably accept that Jakom will look for the names of pastoralists, Coastals, Kambas, Kisiis...even Kikuyus.
In a typical Raila nomination list, you will actually think you are reading out tongue twisters; Lemaletian, Nyakerario, Montet, Syengo, Chebeni...
_Check out what the other party leaders do before we continue._
As for , the doctrine has always been simple; give the job to someone who will do it, we will remember his/her name later. You need to visit Sifuna's office. It is a mini Raila paradise of tribal mosaic; everyone from everywhere. Again, just take a tour of the offices of the other leaders and marvel at how they transport their entire villages to Nairobi, and create spaces where vernacular parables are generously washed down with misogynistic village jokes in air conditioned Nairobi offices. The latter style of leadership means that many of the people in high offices are surrounded by their villages even here in the city, and will never understand the issues of the others.
Raila is the leader of ODM and Sifuna is its SG, the two most important positions in the party. I cite their unique example so that you understand my next point.
Because ODM is therefore led by two people who seek national unity and the sustenance of the national fabric, Gachagua's gospel was a direct violation of this principle held dear by both Raila and Sifuna. And yet, for some strange reason, Gachagua's supporters somehow believed that Raila's ODM and Sifuna specifically, should have saved him! It is only in Kenya where people think you should encounter a dragon eating your children, tap it on the back and tell it "enda tu lakini usirudie!" Gachagua has described ODM in derogatory terms for years, dehumanised its party leader, insulted its other leaders, but was supposed to be saved by the same party and its SG? Quite incredibly, even on the floor of the Senate, while defending Gachagua, his lawyers threw snide remarks about ODM when answering Sifuna's clarification question, at a time when they supposedly needed his vote desperately. I don't know about you, but even the most bipolar person would pause here and ask; WTF?
As they say in that book, "No Tears For Hilda", "the world is better without you, your methods were vile and detestable and no one will miss you". There are two types of Gachagua supporters this morning. The first obviously are the tribal supporters from his beloved Murima. The second are those who think Ruto should have fallen too, or that the manner of Gachagua's removal was disrespectful. I have watched countless Gachagua videos in this period. I have never seen a more shameless human being. The way he went after the Kenyatta family, their wealth, their human dignity, even their sheep..is difficult to describe. The derogatory manner in which he has consistently referred to other leaders and to other Kenyan communities can't be less than the most primitive politics we have seen in this land. I am firmly convinced that it was a grave mistake letting someone like Gachagua rise to high office in this land. But now that we have corrected the anomaly, we must never ever let that happen again!
