Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has blamed former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria for the opposition’s loss in the November 27, 2025, Mbeere North parliamentary by-election.

Speaking on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, during an interview with one of the local TV stations, Gachagua claimed that Kuria’s Chama Cha Kazi (CCK) candidate split critical clan-based votes that would have secured a win for Democratic Party (DP) candidate Newton Karish.

The former Mathira MP said the Mbeere elders had approached him before the November 27 poll, urging him to ensure only one candidate emerged from the contested clan to avoid splitting the decisive bloc of votes.

Clan dynamics

According to the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader, Karish and Duncan Mbui, who later defected to CCK after DCP withdrew his candidature from the race, come from the same clan.

“Moses Kuria’s candidate in the Mbeere by-election did affect the polls. When the elders of Mbeere approached me, it was because of the clan dynamics. Newton Karish and Duncan Mbui, who later went to Chama cha Kazi (CCK), come from the same clan. The elders told me that if we had the two candidates, it would not be good. They asked me to step down this guy so that the clan can have one candidate, and it made a lot of sense because I understand the clan dynamics and the people of Mbeere,” Gachagua said.

Gachagua said he honoured the elders’ request and withdrew his preferred candidate, believing that consolidating votes would strengthen the opposition’s chances against UDA’s Leonard Wa Muthende.

Gachagua accuses Ruto of influencing Kuria

However, he alleges the government later influenced Kuria to field Mbui under CCK, ultimately fracturing the clan vote.

“I withdrew the candidate, but then the government approached Kuria, who has been part of the Ruto administration, to get this guy. Kuria’s CCK party is part of the many wheelbarrows I keep saying Ruto has. This guy got 2,500 votes. Those votes, because of the clan dynamics, would have gone to Newton Karish,” he said.

The former DP insisted that despite what he described as voter suppression, violence, and bribery during the mini poll, the final outcome could have shifted had the clan vote remained intact.

“Despite the voter suppression, violence, and voter bribery, probably if those votes had gone to him, things could have been different.”