Rigathi Gachagua, Kenya’s impeached former Deputy President, has intensified his criticism of the Ruto administration, raising alarms about a deterioration in public safety and what he characterises as the deliberate weaponisation of ethnicity for political gain ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at a series of public forums since his removal from office in October 2024, Gachagua has been particularly vocal about enforced disappearances, claiming that young people — many associated with the protest movements that shook Nairobi and other cities in mid-2024 — have gone missing in circumstances suggesting state involvement. His claims echo concerns raised by Amnesty International Kenya and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, which have documented dozens of alleged abductions linked to the anti-government Gen Z demonstrations.
Gachagua also levelled accusations at elements within the Kenya Police Service, alleging collaboration between certain officers and criminal networks. The service has consistently denied such claims and launched internal investigations into some reported incidents, though activists say these probes lack independence and transparency.
Beyond security, the former deputy president warned that ethnic-based mobilisation is becoming an increasingly dominant feature of Kenya’s political landscape. The country’s history of election-related ethnic violence — most devastatingly in 2007–08, when over 1,200 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced — makes such warnings politically resonant, even as critics accuse Gachagua of contributing to the very dynamics he decries.
Political analysts note that his public campaign appears designed to consolidate support among Mount Kenya communities that once formed the bedrock of Jubilee and now feel politically marginalised under the current administration, positioning him as a key figure for the next electoral cycle.
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