Gachagua fights off tribalist tag from political rivals
By Arnold Ngure, August 26, 2025Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has branded himself a nationalist despite meeting Kenyans in their tribal organisations during his tour of the US.
Speaking during a live TV interview from his Karen residence in Nairobi on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, Gachagua indicated that his US meetings were two-fold, with general town hall meetings and special community meetings.
“I had town hall meetings for all Kenyans, then there were communities that invited me for meetings to discuss issues that are unique to those communities,” Gachagua clarified.
Established organisations
“Let us not sit here and pretend that communities do not sit together and speak in their own language; God, in his own wisdom, created people with an identical language.”
“When the Abagusii community invites me to speak to them in the US, do I tell them I cannot meet them until they call the Kambas and the Maasais?” he posed.
Gachagua equally stated that the community organisations in the US were not established by him, but by Kenyans in the US, noting that he could not turn down invitations just because they were from tribe-based organisations.
“There are no Kenyans who sit somewhere as Kenyans; if you go to the US, people have community organisations that were not established by Riggy G. In the US, the people from the mountain have their own organization, the Abagusii, Kamba, Mulembe, and the Maa also have their own organization,” Gachagua said.
Detractors
Gachagua equally stated that the narrative of branding him a tribalist stems from President William Ruto and his cronies, who are disgruntled about his newfound influence.
“When I was with President William Ruto, they had very kind words for me; they were saying I am the best guy they have ever met, a nationalist and a patriot. But when we parted ways and I decided to shift my support from him to elsewhere, they called me a tribalist,” he said.
He went ahead to brand himself a nationalist who loves his community and harbours no hate for other communities.
“The man before you is a great nationalist; is a man who loves Kenya and has never uttered anything negative against another community. He loves his community, yes; but that does not mean he hates other communities,” Gachagua said.
“I would challenge anybody with a single utterance that Rigathi Gachagua has ever made against another community.”