You are an idler: Ruto fires back at Gachagua over NYOTA remarks
By Kenneth Mwenda, February 11, 2026President William Ruto has hit back at his former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, in a growing dispute over the government’s drought response and the rollout of the NYOTA cash programme in northern Kenya.
Speaking in Garissa, on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, Ruto defended his decision to personally oversee youth empowerment forums, saying his focus was on jobs and financial inclusion, not politics.
“I have come here myself. Not because I lack work. Not because of many other things. It is because of matters of young people,” Ruto said. “The empowerment of young people through financial inclusion and job creation is of such importance to me. That is why I take time to do this.”
He dismissed critics who questioned why he was attending NYOTA disbursement events instead of handling other state duties.
“I hear many people trying to lecture me. They say the President should be doing something else. You go and do that other job. I am coming to do the work of these young people,” he said.
In a direct attack on Gachagua, Ruto added:
“The one trying to tell me to do another job is an idler. You are an idler. You have no work to do. Your work is to roam around shouting ‘wantam, Kasongo, I don’t know what’. Then you have the audacity to come and lecture me.”
Call to declare drought
The remarks came a day after Gachagua accused the government of moving too slowly to respond to drought conditions affecting parts of northern Kenya. He asked Ruto to declare the situation a national disaster.
“William Ruto must declare the drought in northern Kenya a national disaster,” Gachagua said during a press briefing in Nairobi. He argued that such a declaration would unlock more national and international support.
Gachagua said about 3.3 million people face high levels of acute food insecurity. He warned that the figure could rise due to poor rains, high temperatures and falling harvests.
“As of December 2025, more than 741,000 children under five are acutely malnourished, and over 109,000 pregnant and lactating women need treatment,” he said. “Women and children bear the greatest burden, walking long distances, missing school and facing increased risks of disease and malnutrition.”
He criticised the scale of funding set aside for drought response. According to Gachagua, the Ksh4.1 billion monthly expenditure approved by Cabinet translates to about Ksh1,200 per person for 3.3 million people in need. He said this falls below a United Nations benchmark of around Ksh2,700 for a minimum food basket in rural areas.
Row over relief spending
Gachagua also questioned government spending in other areas. He claimed the Office of the Deputy President had spent hundreds of millions of shillings on helicopters and private air travel while communities struggled with hunger and water shortages.
He further accused the President of turning NYOTA, a World Bank-backed programme, into a political platform ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The NYOTA programme is happening in other African countries, yet we have not seen their presidents turn it into re-election campaign rallies,” he said.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki rejected Gachagua’s claims and urged leaders to keep politics out of relief efforts.
“Those looking for political opportunities in the drought situation are wasting their time,” Kindiki said. He added that the government had disbursed more than Ksh10 billion over the past three months for food, water, medical supplies, livestock feed and vaccines in 23 affected counties.
Kindiki said the support targets about 3.3 million people and that county drought steering committees had been activated to improve coordination and speed up delivery.