By Anderson Ojwang
The 45 days of conclave in Wamunyoro village by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is likely to radically set the tempo and change the 2027 presidential contest.
Hot on the heels after three High Court Judges dealt a blow to Gachagua’s move to overturn his impeachment by Parliament, a razor-sharp Gachagua emerged not only breathing fire but committed to opposition unity and a single presidential candidate to face off with President William Ruto.
Gachagua came out razor-sharp during today’s press conference to dictate and determine the 2027 presidential contest.
“My supporters have instructed me to urgently embark on the implementation of a strategic stand from my Wamunyoro residence for a period of 45 days. From Monday, I will camp in Wamunyoro village to start exhaustive and extensive consultation with my supporters and opinion leaders,” he said.
The agenda of the conclave is aimed at coming up with a formula for identifying a single presidential candidate to face President William Ruto in the 2027 elections.
In a bold declaration, Gachagua stated that in the interest of Kenya and the opposition, he had embarked on 45 days of strategic meetings to identify a single presidential candidate to face off with Ruto.
He said after this weekend, when he will be in Western Kenya for a series of engagements with his deputies Cleophas Malala and Eugene Wamalwa, he will not engage in any political mobilisation.
Mt Kenya block
The 45 days of the conclave were aimed at locking President Ruto out of the vote-rich basket of Mt Kenya and opening it up to the would-be opposition presidential candidate.
“When I was hounded out of office in 2024, I retreated to my village of Wamunyoro, engaging with Kenyans. And after exhaustive engagement talking to over 15,000 people, I was instructed to form a political party to solidify Mt Kenya’s political base and look for friends across the country. This I have successfully done, and the mountain is united to a man, and we now have arguably the most popular party, DCP. We have consolidated our support in totality,” he said.
Presidential candidate
Gachagua said he will be a presidential candidate and that the Constitution makes him eligible to vie.
But he is ready to support the candidate the opposition will settle on as his main political agenda.
The Advisory Caucus
Gachagua said following the High Court ruling, a 60-member advisory caucus on political and economic issues held a virtual meeting last night and mandated the next course of action.
“The work of political mobilisation to remove President Ruto from office was complete, and there was no need for any further political mobilisation,” he said.
Gachagua said he was asked to engage with utmost priority the identification of a single presidential candidate to face President William Ruto.
“They have asked me to move to Wamunyoro to meet stakeholders, opinion leaders, and other people who matter in our political formation to seek their mandate and authority to initiate negotiations with my co-principals with a view to producing a single presidential candidate,” he said.
He said they instructed him that having a single presidential candidate against President Ruto was non-negotiable and the only way to liberate the country.
“They have asked me to stick to that commitment, and I therefore want to commit that I, Gachagua, on the instructions of my nearly 10 million supporters, will lead from the front to identify a single presidential candidate to face Ruto. From our corners, we have two plans, A and B, that we shall discuss with our stakeholders for 45 days. This is critical,” he said.
Plans
Gachagua already has two plans. Plan A is to mobilise support across the country in the event that his colleagues and the formula they shall agree on favour him as the presidential candidate.
“Plan B: in the event that Plan A does not favour me as the single presidential candidate, to get a mandate from my supporters to jointly with other co-principals identify a single presidential candidate. I remain committed to working with my colleagues in the opposition towards the course of a single presidential candidate,” he said.
Gachagua said he has the capacity, muscle, network and strategy to run his presidential campaigns should he be the candidate.
“If any of my colleagues is agreed upon, I give a firm commitment to Kenyans. I will lead the campaign and make Ruto a one-term president,” he said.
Gachagua will lead the presidential campaigns and will do whatever it takes to take President Ruto home.
I will make someone president
Gachagua said through his 4 million supporters he was able to make Ruto president; he will mobilise his 10 million support block to make another person president.
“If Gachagua mobilised 4 million votes and made Ruto president, I will mobilise my 10 million supporters to take him out. I made Ruto president with my supporters. I and my supporters will make someone else the president. I will support another Kenyan,” he said.
Gachagua said there will be no division in the opposition ahead of next year’s elections.
“I will ensure that everybody moves along, in case it is not me, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, to ensure the opposition vote basket for the agreed candidate is full,” he said.
