Gachagua Accuses Ruto of Diverting All Development To Nyanza, Neglecting Kalenjins

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has sharply criticised President William Ruto, accusing him of sidelining the Kalenjin community in favour of development projects in Nyanza as he hunts for votes ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Gachagua, now leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), made the claims during a joint interview with Kalenjin-language radio stations on Friday evening.

He reminded the President that the Kalenjin and Mt Kenya votes were decisive in Ruto’s 2022 victory, yet the Rift Valley — the community’s heartland — now feels abandoned.

“Rais alipitishwa na kura ya Mlima na ya Wakalenjin… sasa nikamwuliza rais, kama tumesahau hawa Wakalenjin, walikuvumilia miaka tano, wewe umechukua kila kitu ukapelekea Nyanza, hutembelei hawa watu… ukija Kericho, Bomet, unakuja interdenomination… mbona hukuji kufungua project? Mimi nilimwuliza,” Gachagua said.

(The President was elected with votes from Mt Kenya and the Kalenjins… so I asked the President, if we have forgotten these Kalenjins who stood with you for five years, you have taken everything to Nyanza, you don’t visit these people… when you come to Kericho and Bomet, you only come for interdenominational prayers… why don’t you come to open projects? I asked him.)

The DCP chief said the Kalenjin community, despite producing the sitting President, now lacks champions in Parliament.

“Hawa wakalenjin hawana mtetezi; wabunge wamenyamaza, masenator pia wamenyamaza, nani atatetea hao?” he posed.

(These Kalenjins have no defender; their MPs have gone silent, senators too — who will speak for them?)

Gachagua moved quickly to calm fears that his bitter fallout with Ruto — which led to his impeachment in October 2024 — would translate into revenge against the wider community if the opposition takes power.

“There is no one who will discriminate against the Kalenjins. They have not wronged anyone. We have a problem with one person, whom we will remove from power when the time comes. Kalenjins are good people. They have worked and developed this country. Just because Ruto has wronged us, it doesn’t mean the whole Kalenjin community has done it,” he said.

He contrasted Ruto’s frequent development visits to Nyanza — a region that largely voted against him in 2022 — with what he described as ceremonial church stops in Bomet and Kericho, where no major projects are commissioned.

Gachagua said he will personally tour Kalenjin areas next week, holding meet-the-people rallies in Mulot, Bomet town, Longisa and Sotik before proceeding to United Opposition engagements in Kisii and Nyamira.

The remarks are part of a broader push by Gachagua and the opposition alliance to peel support away from Ruto in the vote-rich Rift Valley, which delivered a massive bloc for the President in 2022.

State House had not responded to the accusations by the time of going to press.

Gachagua’s interview, which aired live across stations including Emoo FM, Chamgei and others, drew mixed reactions online, with some Kalenjin listeners praising his defence of the community while others questioned his motives given his own political battles.

The DCP leader has been intensifying outreach beyond Mt Kenya, positioning himself as a national figure in the United Opposition’s quest to oust Ruto through the ballot in 2027.