Aasai

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched his most scathing critique yet of President William Ruto, accusing him of being “extremely confused” in his handling of the Gen Z protests that have rocked Kenya since 2024. Speaking in Dracut, Massachusetts, during his U.S. tour, Gachagua said Ruto has continuously failed to address the real causes of discontent among Kenyan youth and is instead hiding behind a web of blame games.

According to Gachagua, the President has offered no coherent strategy or acknowledgment of the genuine frustrations of Gen Z, who have taken to the streets demanding accountability, reforms, and justice. “When the protests began, he claimed it was an attempted coup. Then, he turned around and said it was NGOs pulling the strings. The next day, it was the Ford Foundation. Then he blamed the church, then the opposition. Most recently, he accused the parents. How many more people is he going to blame before he looks in the mirror?” Gachagua remarked, drawing applause from the diaspora audience.

The former Deputy President accused Ruto of deliberately avoiding the core issues raised by the youth, such as police brutality, rising abductions, unemployment, government wastage, and lack of opportunities. He said Rutos reactionary leadership has only served to alienate the younger generation even further. “Rather than acknowledge their pain and demands, he deflects and politicizes it. He says Rigathi Gachagua and Uhuru Kenyatta are behind the protests. That is an insult to the intelligence of our youth. They are not puppets—they are patriots,” Gachagua said.

He went on to claim that the Kenya Kwanza administration is in denial and using propaganda to discredit the spontaneous, organic nature of the protests. Gachagua asserted that the youth-led movement, largely mobilized online, is not politically instigated as alleged by State House allies. “They don’t want to deal with the truth. So they call it incitement. They say I am sponsoring the protests. I am not. The government is just uncomfortable with a generation that cannot be bought, silenced, or manipulated,” he added.

Gachagua, now leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), called on President Ruto to come down from his “high horse” and have an honest dialogue with Gen Z, whom he described as the conscience of the nation. He warned that continued repression, arrests, and deflections would only deepen the publics anger and accelerate national unrest. “This is a leadership in free fall. They have lost direction. They speak to themselves, not to the people,” he said.

Meanwhile, his wife, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, also took the opportunity to respond to growing personal attacks aimed at her, particularly claims that she dominates her husband politically. “They say I’ve sat on him. But how can I sit on a man who is giving this entire regime sleepless nights?” she posed, laughing off the accusations.

Gachagua’s remarks come amid rising political tension in Kenya, as protests led by Gen Z continue to gain momentum both locally and internationally. Government officials have repeatedly attempted to link the protests to political figures, particularly those associated with the previous regime. However, many of the demonstrators have remained clear in their message—that their actions are not tied to political loyalty but to a desire for justice, dignity, and national accountability.

As Gachagua tours the U.S. and strengthens ties with the diaspora, his open critique of President Ruto adds to the mounting pressure on the government to respond with clarity, humility, and action. His statements reflect a broader national conversation about leadership, youth engagement, and the future of Kenya’s democracy.