OMWENGA: Time for Uhuru and Gachagua to shake hands, fight together

As I told former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua not too long ago when I first met him in person, I have always had a soft spot for him after finding out he and my late brother served former President Daniel Moi as district officers.

To say “always” is misleading a bit, though, because like many, I had no idea who the man was before he was thrust into the public limelight in 2022 as UDA presidential candidate William Ruto’s running mate.

Gachagua himself will not dispute the fact that one major reason Ruto chose him as his running mate was to politically finish President Uhuru Kenyatta in Mrima and therefore send Uhuru’s preferred presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, into forced retirement in Bondo.

The man from Wamunyoro heeded the call and was so good in attacking Uhuru during the 2022 campaign that his efforts were rewarded by Ruto who had him impeached less than two years later.

By then, great damage had already been done in the relationship between Uhuru, his mother Mama Ngina and Gachagua, some would argue to the level of irreparable harm.

Those who hold the latter view believe Gachagua crossed the line when he attacked Mama Ngina at the height of the 2022 election.

One special class of the human species one should not insult or otherwise besmirch is our grandmothers and great grandmothers.

Mama Ngina did not just suffer the indignity and humiliation of being insulted by Gachagua who should have known better, our First Lady was subjected to further humiliation by having her government security withdrawn from her homes.

Meanwhile, attacks on Uhuru by Gachagua continued long after Ruto and Gachagua had been sworn in, leading many to wonder if the former DP had never heard or learnt from the proverb, “Let sleeping dogs lie”?

To his credit, Gachagua publicly apologised to Mama Ngina Kenyatta in March last year, expressing regret for his insults during the 2022 election. He called his past attacks "political bad manners" and asked for her forgiveness. He said that she, as the "mother of the nation" and a respected elder, should never have been targeted to political mudslinging. The apology was framed to foster unity and heal political rivalries in Mrima and beyond.

The apology did not end there. For several weeks, Gachagua continued and consistently and publicly sought to mend fences with Uhuru whom he started calling “Our King”.

The former Mathira MP said in September last year that the entire Mt Kenya region and he were misled into demeaning Uhuru and that this “mistake should never happen again.”

In Gachagua’s own words at a rally in Kimende, Kiambu county, “Come rain, come sunshine, we will never again vilify our king. We came here and vilified Uhuru Kenyatta. I repented after that. Did I not repent? Did you forgive me? We will never again vilify the king of the Kikuyu community.

Let us teach our youth never again to be used by anyone to vilify our king. Let us love each other so that we get our rightful share of the Kenyan cake.”

There has not been — at least not publicly — any acknowledgement or acceptance of the apologies by either Uhuru or Mama Ngina.

However, Gachagua did claim during an interview that he now has a close relationship with former Uhuru and his mother following his expression of remorse and apology to the historic mother and son.

Speaking to vernacular stations, he added that Uhuru has become his friend since he apologised for vilifying him during the elections period.

"Uhuru, Mama Ngina and the Mountain people, accepted my apology. Uhuru became my friend and besides speaking more often, there are things we are doing together," Gachagua told a media roundtable.

Although some say he backtracked on his apology or altogether erased it in his recent remarks, others believe a handshake between him and Uhuru is in the making. If it happens, it would be good for Gachagua’s political calculations beyond 2027.

If the handshake doesn’t happen, and notwithstanding the hoopla and media hype, Uhuru’s preferred candidate will still win and be sworn in this time around.