Molo MP Kuria Kimani has lashed out at Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua over his recent remarks on grade 10 placement.

The sentiments made earlier this week have attracted wide criticism from a section of leaders allied to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.

Speaking at Machatha Secondary on Thursday, January 8, 2026, during the commissioning of a classroom and laboratory funded by NG-CDF, Kimani urged Gachagua to keep politics out of education matters.

Kimani, who is also the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, termed Gachagua’s remarks as retrogressive and meant to create confusion and anxiety among parents as schools open for the first term.

“Gachagua should go back and study his reasons for impeachment. It is due to such backward utterances that created the content of his removal from office,” Kimani said.

He said institutions of learning are free from tribal arrangements, adding that the education system dictates merit among learners.

The legislator urged leaders from central provinces to be mindful of other regions that are underdeveloped and support President William Ruto’s bid to ensure regional balance on the development agenda of the nation.

Gachagua’s remarks

Gachagua recently questioned why students from outside the Mt Kenya region were admitted to Alliance High School and Mang’u High School. He argued that many learners from the region were instead placed in schools far from home, a claim that sparked criticism across political and education circles.

Critics viewed the remarks as tribal, noting that national schools are designed to admit students from across the country based on merit and regional balance. Alliance and Mang’u, though located in Central Kenya, are public national institutions and not regional schools.

Chama Cha Kazi Party Leader Moses Kuria accused Gachagua of injecting tribal politics into Kenya’s national schools at a sensitive moment in the country’s education transition.

Kuria made the remarks in a post on X on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

“I have heard Rigathi Gachagua tribalising the last bastion of our values – national schools,” Kuria wrote. “He thinks he has the right to do so simply because he went to Alliance to supply milk when he was a District Officer in the area in the 90s.”

Senior School transition

The dispute comes against the backdrop of the first-ever placement of Grade 10 learners under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced in December that all 1,130,459 candidates who sat the 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) would transition to senior school.

According to the Ministry of Education, placement into senior schools is based on learner performance, chosen pathways, available capacity, and national balance. The ministry also opened a seven-day review window in late December to address placement complaints, citing high competition for popular schools and mismatches between selected pathways and results.