Nyaribari Masaba Member of Parliament (MP) Daniel Manduku has claimed that President William Ruto’s five-day development tour of the Mt Kenya region could mark the end of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s political career and influence in the region.

Speaking during a live TV interview on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, Manduku stated that if Ruto completes the tour without any major challenges, Gachagua’s political influence will be significantly weakened.

“If President Ruto’s 5-day tour of Mt Kenya succeeds, then Rigathi Gachagua will be done politically. Gachagua’s influence will be deflated politically. If Ruto tours Mt Kenya without any hitches,” he said.

Ruto’s Mt Kenya tour

The Mount Kenya regional tour, which will see Ruto traverse nine counties in the expansive, vote-rich region, comes just six months after the impeachment of Gachagua.

Among the projects Ruto is set to launch, inspect progress on, or commission include roads, affordable housing units, markets, and industrial parks in the region.

Equally, the president is expected to issue title deeds in Kieni and Tigania and inspect the construction of the Ksh500 million County Aggregation and Industrial Parks in Laikipia and Kiambu counties.

Ruto is also expected to launch water and sanitation projects in Meru and Embu counties, and also inspect livestock feedlots in Tigania and Imenti during his tour, among other projects.

Gachagua on Ruto’s tour

On Saturday, March 29, 2025, while speaking in Naivasha, where he attended the consecration and installation ceremony for the Reverend Harrison Munyua at Redeemed Church, he told Mt Kenya residents to prepare for handouts, for which he claimed money had been packed in sacks ahead of the tour.

The former DP told the residents not to sell their claps and cheers cheaply, asking them to charge exorbitantly if paid to listen to Ruto. Specifically, he told the residents not to accept anything less than Ksh3,000.

Nonetheless, Gachagua warned Mt Kenya residents against taking the money home and using it to pay school fees or buy livestock. He argued that the money, which he claimed was to be splashed during the tour, was cursed.

“Si ata saizi anajiandaa kuja kutembea uko, anakuja kusema ukweli ama uongo? Si mnajua, lakini tumesema msijali. (Even now, he is preparing for a visit; he is coming to say the truth or lies? You already know, but we have said do not worry about that.

“Pesa imepangwa kwa magunia mujitayarishe, mkule lakini msipeleke hio nyumbani imelaaniwa. Mkule pale kwa market pekee yake na msichanganye ha ile yenu ya zamani (Money has been packed in sacks, so prepare yourselves; eat the money but do not take it home or mix it with your money),” Gachagua warned.

“Na tumesema kama ni kuskiza uonge, mlipishe bei ghali. Sasa usipewe mia mbili kuskiza uongo utakuwa wewe ni mjinga. (And we have said, if it is listening to lies, then you must charge expensive. So do not receive Ksh200 to listen to lies; you will be fools. Listening to lies is Ksh3,000 and above,” he affirmed.