NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 18 – Born to a family of freedom fighters, Rigathi Gachagua, has fashioned himself as a non conformer charting an independent path, often adopting a combative approach against those he says are out to “sell fear.”
“We won’t be cowed into changing our position. Let our opponents know they will not succeed in selling us fear,” the first-term lawmaker representating Mathira Constituency said at the height of a corruption investigation he termed a witch-hunt orchestrated by the State to intimidate him.
Rigathi, who has described his late father Nashashon Gachagua Reriani as a gun technician who supported Mau Mau fighters in Mt. Kenya Forest and his wife Martha Kirigo who provided them with food and ammunition, has labeled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s graft fight as a scheme by “dynasties” to weaponize the criminal justice system against “hustlers” born of little-known parents.
The 57-year-old politician who has also served as a public administrator surprised allies and critics alike when he emerged as a top contender for the running mate slot in the William Ruto-led United Democratic Alliance.
Long-drawn negotiations that stretched into the night as two formations in UDA haggled over who between Rigathi and Tharaka Nithi Senator should deputize Ruto culminated in his unveiling on May 15.
An eighth-born in a family of nine children, Rigathi was among politicians loyal to President Kenyatta in the vote-rich central region before he decamped the ruling Jubilee Party to join Ruto’s outfit at the height of a vicious combat that saw dozens of Ruto’s allies dethroned from powerful parliamentary slots including Leader of Majority in both the Senate and National Assembly.
Ruto and Rigathi are banking on the support of a dozen parties coalescing around the Kenya Kwanza Alliance to defeat their chief competitors Raila Odinga (presidential candidate) and Martha Karua (running mate) in the Azimio formation which enjoys President Kenyatta’s backing and that of key Cabinet Secretaries including Fred Matiangi (Interior) and Joe Mucheru (ICT).
The alliance that UDA co-founded with Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) and Moses Wetangula’s Ford Kenya also includes Justin Muturi’s Democratic Party, Moses Kuria’s Chama Cha Kazi, Mwangi Kiunjuri’s The Service Party, William Kabogo’s Tujibebe Party, the Farmers Party, Devolution Party of Kenya, Economic Freedom Party, the Communist Party of Kenya and Martin Wambora’s Umoja na Maendeleo Party.
Governors Alfred Mutua (Machakos) and Amason Kingi (Kilifi) also enlisted Maendeleo Chap Chap and Pamoja African Alliance after storming out of Azimio.
Rigathi is scheduled to face Karua in the Deputy Presidential Debate on Tuesday night but he was yet to confirm attendance for the debate which his party has dismissed as pre-rigged accusing its organizers of being biased.
The UDA Presidential Campaign Secretariat maintained its position on Friday saying its candidates will make independent decisions on whether or not to attend presidential debates.
The campaign’s spokesperson Hussein Mohamed told reporters that the secretariat had provided Ruto and his running mate with sufficient information on the media landscape highlighting the perceived imbalance in media coverage.
“That advice was legitimized by a monitoring report by the Media Council, that showed the other people (our competitors) are enjoying 61 percent or so of coverage,” he stated.
Mohamed, who was flanked by the campaign’s Director General, Josphat Nanok, cited a media survey released by the Media Council of Kenya in June which showed their main competitor Raila Odinga received 58.7 percent coverage in news media compared to Ruto’s 36.6 percent.
He dismissed a new survey that suggested an improvement to 46 percent versus Odinga’s 45 percent, saying it lacked legitimacy.
“The media council again a day or two after issued a statement this time however, without any report any statistics trying to say the numbers have changed.”
Here is a brief profile of Rigathi Gachagua:
- He was born in 1965 in Hiriga village of Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County, being the eighth born child to Nashashon Gachagua Reriani and Martha Kirigo.
- His parents were Mau Mau freedom fighters in Mt.Kenya forest where Nashashon Gachagua Reriani was building and servicing guns for the fighters.
- He enrolled at Kabiruini Primary School from 1971 to 1977 before proceeding to Kianyaga High School for his O-levels and A-levels.
- In 1985, he joined the University of Nairobi where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree; Political Science and Literature in 1988.
- Rigathi had Paramilitary training at the Administration Police Institute in 1990.
- He studied Advanced Public Administration Course at the Kenya School of Government between 1999 and 2000.
- At the University of Nairobi, Gachagua was the Nyeri District University Students Association (NDUSA) leader as well as the chairman of The Association of Literature Students.
Personal life:
- He is married to Dorcas Wanjiku Rigathi, who is a pastor based in Mathira.
Career:
- After graduating, Gachagua was employed for a short time at Kenya’s Ministry of Home Affairs & National Heritage before he joined Administration Police Institute in 1990.
- After graduating from the Administration Police Institute, Gachagua was posted at the Office of the then president Daniel Arap Moi, as a District Officer Cadet between 1991 and 1992.
- Gachagua then went on to serve as a District Officer in Kakamega, Ng’arua and Laikipia districts.
- Between 1999 and 2000, he joined the Kenya School of Government where he graduated with a Diploma in Advanced Public Administration.
- Between 2001 and 2006, Gachagua then worked as the Personal Assistant to Uhuru Kenyatta.
- Between 2007 and 2017, Gachagua remained behind the scenes running his businesses.
Political career:
- Gachagua was elected as a Kenyan member of parliament for Mathira constituency in 2017 on a Jubilee ticket. In that race, he had edged out a bitter rival Phyllis Wambura Maranga who had claimed she had been rigged out of the Jubilee Party primaries.
Controversies:
- Rigathi is facing a graft case and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has applied to freeze some of his bank accounts.
