Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua speaking in Nyeri on August 23, 2026 / HANDOUTDCP leader Rigathi Gachagua has sustained his offensive against President William Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, declaring he will confine them to their respective backyards.
Speaking in Nairobi on Tuesday while welcoming Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan and other Jubilee leaders from the capital, Gachagua claimed he is setting the agenda for Ruto, forcing the President to follow his trail across the country.
“I have pushed him [Ruto] into a corner. I am actually setting the agenda for him. I was in Narok East recently, and today he has run there. I went to Emurua Dikirr, and tomorrow he is going there. I have returned him home. I have confined William Ruto back home,” Gachagua said.
The DCP leader claimed Ruto was being forced back to his Rift Valley backyard after he mobilised the Kipsigis community to support his party.
Gachagua accused the President of neglecting the region since taking office and failing to honour pledges made during the 2022 election campaign.
He said many residents still lacked reliable access to water and electricity and that key roads remained undeveloped.
Gachagua urged residents to turn out in large numbers during Ruto’s visits and challenge him over what he described as unfulfilled campaign promises.
“I want you to show up in large numbers and ask the President where the promises he made to you are,” he said.
Gachagua also claimed to have contained Deputy President Kithure Kindiki in his Tharaka Nithi backyard, after Kindiki spent last week touring the county.
“I also want to contain this Kindiki in Tharaka Nithi. We as the opposition will now move to lock the rest of the country,” he said.
His remarks came as Ruto intensified his political and development activities in Narok county, where he launched and inspected several infrastructure projects.
Ruto said his administration was building 17 modern markets across the county to provide traders, including mama mboga, with dignified and decent working environments.
He also toured various parts of Narok and launched projects including the Ololulung’a-Ewaso Ng’iro Road.
The President said construction of the road was ongoing, while the Ololung’a-Sogoo-Saptet-Mulot road was nearly 60 per cent complete.
“We are transforming Narok County through deliberate infrastructure projects to unlock its vast economic potential. The tarmacking of Ngoswani-Naikarra-Morijo road is underway, with 30km already completed,” Ruto said.
“In Narok East, construction of the 40km Suswa-Inkorionito-Naiekia-Enkare road is ongoing while Narok Airport will be ready in the next few months.”
On electricity connectivity, Ruto said the government was investing Sh2.8 billion in extending power connections to more residents across the county.
“The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda was never just a campaign slogan. It was a commitment to uplift the lives of Kenyans through deliberate and strategic investments to transform from the bottom up,” he said.
Ruto said the government was investing a total of Sh15 billion in affordable housing, modern markets and hostels for university and college students across Narok County.
Gachagua’s remarks come amid the growing contest for influence in Rift Valley, where he is seeking to make inroads among communities that form the core of Ruto’s political base.
Gachagua has increasingly framed his nationwide mobilisation as an effort to reclaim support he says he helped Ruto secure in the 2022 election.
On the other hand, the President has stepped up development projects and political outreach in regions where the opposition is seeking to make gains.
