Former Senior Economic Advisor to President William Ruto, Moses Kuria, has dismissed claims by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that the government has pumped Ksh1 billion into the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, insisting that the actual value of national government investments in the constituency exceeds Ksh10 billion.

Kuria’s remarks came after Gachagua claimed that the government was spending heavily in Ol Kalou ahead of the July 16, 2026 parliamentary by-election.

Speaking at his Wamunyoro residence in Nyeri County during a consultative meeting with leaders from Narok County on Friday, Gachagua claimed President William Ruto had injected more than Ksh1 billion into the constituency in a bid to influence the outcome of the mini poll.

The former Deputy President claimed that money had flooded the constituency to the extent that businesses were struggling to give customers change.

“William Ruto amemwaga pesa hapo Ol Kalou Ksh1 billion. Pale hakuna hata change ya elfu moja. Ukinunua chai unalipa na elfu hata kama chai ni ya mia moja, hakuna change. Unaambiwa hapa hakuna change,” Gachagua said.

Gachagua further claimed that residents were taking advantage of the influx of money while planning to vote against the Kenya Kwanza administration.

“Wanakula pesa yake lakini kura ikipigwa atashangaa,” he said.

Moses Kuria responds

Responding through his official social media accounts on the night of Friday, July 3, 2026, Kuria accused Gachagua of deliberately misrepresenting government development projects as campaign spending.

“Dear Rigathi Gachagua. You say we are spending Ksh 1 Billion in Ol Kalou. You are wrong. It’s actually over Ksh 10 Billion,” Kuria wrote on X.

Kuria then launched a scathing attack on his former Kenya Kwanza colleague.

“The kind of thing you failed to do as Deputy President because you are selfish, clueless, inexperienced and out of depth,” he stated.

To back his argument, Kuria published a detailed poster outlining what he described as ongoing and completed government investments in Ol Kalou and the wider Nyandarua County.

Multi-billion development projects

According to Kuria, the projects include the 38-kilometre tarmacking of the Ithagani–Nyaituga–Ngorika–Kanyiriri Road, as well as the murraming of 150 kilometres of roads, including access roads to Lake Ol Bolossat.

He also highlighted the planned reintroduction of Kenya Railways passenger services along the Nairobi–Gilgil–Ol Kalou–Nyahururu route.

Among the other flagship projects listed were the establishment of Nyandarua County’s first-ever Lands Registry, issuance of title deeds to 2,500 first-generation landowners and 25,000 secondary landowners, construction of Nyandarua University, which Kuria said would end the county’s long-standing lack of a public university, distribution of water tanks, drilling of 10 new boreholes, rehabilitation of 38 existing boreholes, and expansion of water pipelines.

High-stakes by-election

The Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election has attracted significant national attention, with both the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the opposition treating it as a key political contest ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The by-election was triggered by the death of David Kiaraho, who had represented the constituency for three consecutive terms. UDA has fielded Samuel Muchina Nyagah, while the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), associated with Gachagua, has also thrown its weight behind its candidate as it seeks to make inroads in the Mt Kenya region.