By Anderson Ojwang
A week of contrast. Two neighbours welcoming opposition formations in different forms and format.
Rift Valley and her leaders opened the gate to former deputy to President William Ruto, Rigathi Gachagua, on his visit to Emurua Dikirr.
In the last general election, Ruto chose Gachagua as his running mate, and the duo went ahead to win the presidential duel against the Azimio La Umoja of the late Raila Odinga and Martha Karua.
But after two years in office, Ruto and Gachagua fell out, and subsequently the deputy president was impeached and later replaced by Prof Abraham Kithure Kindiki.
After the fallout and eventual impeachment, Gachagua has become the fiercest critic of Ruto and has locked him out of Mt Kenya.
Gachagua’s party, DCP, overran President Ruto’s party, UDA, in the recent Ol Kalou by-election by securing 86 percent of the votes cast against the latter’s 13 percent.
Subsequently, UDA shares in Mt Kenya have dropped drastically, while DCP has become the party of the region and is currently registering mass defections from the ruling party to it.
Interestingly, in Homa Bay, the bedroom of the late Raila and Nyanza at large has witnessed a negative politics against the Linda Mwananchi group, an offshoot of ODM.
Linda Mwananchi was the rebel wing of the late Raila, and last Sunday was welcomed in Homa Bay with blood, deaths, and massive destruction and looting of properties by the local ODM leaders.
Similar scenes had been witnessed in Kisumu and Kisii during the group’s political rallies in the area.
The ODM siblings, Linda Mwananchi and Linda Ground, who only fell out over the broad-based government arrangement and the ODM-UDA coalition, have now turned bitter rivals.
The ODM wing of Linda Ground have reverted and resorted to violence against Linda Mwananchi in the latter’s recent political rallies.
The laughing stock
While the two communities and regions, Mt Kenya and Rift Valley, the only occupants of the State House, have avoided violence, the opposition turf, Nyanza, has continued to dance to the tunes of political violence.
While Mt Kenya boasts of several CS and permanent secretaries in the government and have remained guarded and restrained, Nyanza with only two cabinet slots and a pocket of permanent secretaries have been the loudest and most vocal.
Mt Kenya government officials have been low-key over Ruto’s support, while their Nyanza counterparts have been acting as the prefects and dormitory captains in the new political union.
Irony
Political leaders from Rift Valley, led by Kericho Governor Dr Erick Mutai and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi among others, came out to urge the residents to welcome Gachagua in the region.
Area MP David Keter: “Gachagua is welcome to Emurua Dikirr. Anyone who wants to come to Emurua Dikirr is welcome.”
Speaking ahead of the rally on Friday, August 21, 2026, Sudi called on residents to allow political competitors to campaign freely and to reject attempts to provoke violence.
“Watu wa Emurua Dikirr, nataka niwaambie, tafadhali, karibisheni huyo Mr One-term MP, karibisheni Mr quarter-term Deputy President. Huyo mtu akuje, mkaribishe hapo, akuje aseme uongo yake hapo, atembee. Mwingine akuje siku ingine, mkaribishe, yule ndio Kenya tunataka,” he said.
Gachagua wrote: “It was also a moment to reflect on the enduring friendship between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities. As a son of the Mountain, I was honored to share some of my agricultural produce with Mama Mary Temas, symbolising the continued bond and friendship that no one can break.”
Gachagua also spoke of the historic bond between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities:
“The longstanding relationship between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities dates back to the 1950s, when Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was first visited by Daniel Arap Moi during his restriction period in Lodwar. This historical bond has been built on mutual respect and shared aspirations, and no one can sever the political ties that unite us—not even individual acts of betrayal.
“I was deeply honoured to visit my Kipsigis supporters in Mogondo Town, Emurua Dikirr Constituency, for a thanksgiving service following the recent by-election in the constituency. Despite our party being less than a year old, we secured an impressive victory with 10,760 votes against our opponents’ 18,266, thanks to your unwavering support for our DCP Candidate, Hon. Vincent Rotich Kibet,” he said.
In Homa Bay, MP Opondo Kaluma warned and banned the use of the word “one term,” terming it as provocative to violence.
The Homa Bay MP recently received summons from the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to help in the investigation over the last weekend’s events.
“Let nobody say there is Linda Mwananchi. As a region we are firmly behind Ruto. If you come to Homa Bay, do not come to abuse President William Ruto. The word one term is provocation to violence for people in Homa Bay. Don’t provoke our people. If you want to give Homa Bay joy, say two term. That is where Baba left us,” he said.
Apology
Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang on Friday in Kakamega publicly apologised to Kenyans and Linda Mwananchi over the violence that was witnessed in Homa Bay.
“I must, as the leader of the people of Homa Bay, bear political responsibilities for the acts of omission and acts of commission of last Sunday. Goons have no place in contemporary Kenya. What was witnessed in Homa Bay last Sunday,” he said.
Kajwang said the gains that the country has achieved in the democratic process cannot be violated by a section of leaders.
“I want to make it very clear that is not the position of the Luo community. That is not the position of the ODM party. This ODM party, Edwin Sifuna has been the secretary for the last nine years. There is nowhere in our ideology where we say we are going to zone Kenya and we are going to prevent other Kenyans from accessing other parts of Kenya,” he said.
Kajwang criticised those behind last Sunday’s violence and asked the government to act.
“We cannot commit the same injustices that have been committed upon us. That is why I offer unconditional apology; we take responsibility for whatever was committed and omitted,” he said.
