Jubilee leader erstwhile President Uhuru Kenyatta and DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua fighting for control of Mt Kenya region votes in 2027……Photo/IP
By IP reporter
NAIROBI, Kenya
Democracy for the Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua has suddenly discovered the virtues of staying indoors.
He is urging Generation Z to skip planned street protests—a move analysts say is less about protecting the youth and more about a desperate audition to remain the political kingpin of the Mount Kenya region beyond the 2027 general election.
The former deputy president, affectionally nicknamed “Riggy G”, held a press conference at his Nyeri residence to deliver a tearful, paternal warning that the government has financed Sh200 million worth of goons to infiltrate the marches.
While Gachagua frames his sudden pacifism as a fatherly desire to keep his “grandchildren” alive, political observers note the impeccable timing of his epiphany.
Until recently, Gachagua was practically offering to carry the protest banners himself.
His sudden pivot to “retreat is not surrender” suggests he is testing whether the TikTok generation will take orders from a man whose previous claims to fame included fighting over local rice and meat allocations.
The real target of Gachagua’s pleading eyes is not the youth, but retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kenyatta, despite being technically retired, still operates as the puppet master of a formidable political axis consisting of Kalonzo Musyoka, Fred Matiang’i, Eugene Wamalwa and Edwin Sifuna.
By begging Gen Z to substitute the barricades for the 2027 ballot box, Gachagua is trying to prove he commands the region’s absolute loyalty.
If the youth stay home, he can claim total control over the Mount Kenya voting bloc.
If they march anyway, it proves that the ground has shifted permanently toward Kenyatta’s well-funded opposition machine.
Gen Z activists have largely laughed off the advice on social media, reminding the political class that their leaderless movement cannot be hijacked by recycled political mouthpieces.
For Gachagua, the stakes are existential. Having been ousted from the deputy presidency, he needs a loyal regional following to survive politically.
Unfortunately for him, trying to flex regional supremacy over Uhuru Kenyatta by using Gen Z as a measuring tape is a dangerous game—especially when the youth are more interested in auditing the state’s budget than listening to an elder tell them to stay home and watch television.
Ends.
