Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has strongly refuted claims that he demanded Ksh.10 billion from President William Ruto after the 2022 General Election to facilitate political activities in the Mt. Kenya region.
Speaking during a live interview on KTN News on Monday, Gachagua dismissed the allegations as baseless, terming them a smear campaign aimed at damaging his reputation, especially within his Central Kenya base.
“I never blackmailed the President. If that were the case, it would have been the first charge during the efforts to force me out of office,” he stated.
Gachagua went on to accuse President Ruto, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki of orchestrating the push for his removal. He also questioned the inconsistencies in the reasons given for his ouster, citing what he described as a region-specific narrative by the President.
“In Western Kenya, he said I was incompetent and tribal. In North Eastern, he claimed I was divisive. In Nyanza, he called me primitive and corrupt,” said Gachagua. “But when he came to Mt. Kenya, none of that was mentioned. Instead, he claimed I had asked for Ksh.10 billion.”
He further criticized members of the President’s inner circle, including digital strategist Dennis Itumbi and National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, for allegedly giving contradictory figures on the said amount, questioning the credibility of the claims.
Gachagua reiterated that he supported Ruto’s presidential campaign out of conviction and personal sacrifice, stating, “I was in trouble with the previous administration because I was funding Ruto’s campaign. They froze my accounts, blocked my businesses, and tried to stop me. I invested heavily in his campaign—I’m not the type to go around asking him for money.”
He also took issue with a recent meeting between President Ruto and a group of female dancers from Central Kenya, where the women were reportedly given Ksh.8,000 each. Gachagua claimed the women were told he had initially intended to “eat the money alone,” calling the narrative manipulative.
The controversy resurfaced last week during President Ruto’s five-day tour of Central Kenya. In a roundtable interview with vernacular radio stations, Ruto said tensions between him and Gachagua began shortly after assuming office, pointing to the former deputy’s confrontations with close allies like Itumbi, Ndindi Nyoro, and Ichung’wah.
“I asked him, ‘Why are you fighting with Itumbi, my PA Farouk, and these young leaders? What’s the need for such small battles?’” Ruto said.
The President went on to claim that Gachagua threatened political consequences if Ksh.10 billion was not released to fund regional political operations.
“I was told, ‘I can make you a one-term president unless you give me Ksh.10 billion to organize politics in the region.’ I refused. If my fate is to be a one-term president, so be it,” Ruto said.
The political rift between the two former allies continues to expose deeper divisions within the Kenya Kwanza administration, as each side offers differing accounts of the events that followed the 2022 election.