Khalwale raises concerns about Gachagua’s economic utterances
By Aloys Michael, July 20, 2025Kakamega County Senator Boni Khalwale has raised concerns over recent comments made by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua regarding the state of the economy, sparking fresh political tensions ahead of the next election cycle.
Posting on his X account on Sunday, July 20, 2025, Khalwale questioned Gachagua’s assertions and aimed what he described as divisive rhetoric at the Mount Kenya community.
In a cryptic post that read, “What am I thinking?” …. Khalwale, who is appearing to be shifting camps, has recently been criticising the government over police brutality and resource allocations.
At the core of the controversy are Gachagua’s remarks on the role of the Mt Kenya community in Kenya’s economic engine, coupled with warnings about disunity and its consequences.
The DCP leader argued that the community is the driver of the Kenyan economy.
“When you destroy this community, you destroy Kenya.” He lamented the economic slowdown, which he attributed to President William Ruto’s perceived “war on the mountain”, leading to a sharp decline in investments and tax revenues.
Gachagua said, “Since William Ruto declared war on the mountain, the economy is almost collapsing because people have stopped paying taxes. People have stopped investing. They are waiting for the government, the way you are holding your money here. That is what people are doing, even ourselves.”
Gachagua also highlighted the community’s distinctive traits, their aggressiveness, enterprise, and work ethic, which have propelled their success both locally and in the diaspora.
“We do this because this community is responsible for the goals of the Kenyan economy, and that is why you are successful here, because that’s the way we were born. We are very aggressive, we are very enterprising, and we are very outgoing. And that is why we are in every town in Kenya,” he said.
Notably, Gachagua touched on the significance of unity, warning against the dangerous political tactic of dividing the community.
“Our strength as a community is our unity. We have the numbers, yes, but those numbers are only useful if they are united. But if we are divided… because he started to divide the mountain east and west. I told him, You can’t do that, because I knew if I allowed him to divide the mountain, he would finish; he’ll sit on us the way Moi sat on us for 24 years,” Gachagua asserted.
He added that he has been successful in keeping the Mt Kenya region united, claiming it was unprecedented since independence:
“The mountain is one, the males, the bearers. We are talking one language, and we are all staying together and working together.”