The dramatic impeachment and removal of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in October 2024 may ultimately be traced to a single night in Kisumu, and a secret recording that altered the balance of power at the apex of government.

Key in the political storm was a private meeting between Gachagua and the late Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno at Kisumu on August 28, 2024. What Gachagua believed to be a confidential conversation inside a presidential suite would later emerge as a turning point in his bitter falling-out with President William Ruto.

According to Gachagua, state agents secretly recorded the discussion, a claim that, if accurate, would reveal the high-stakes intrigue that defined the final months of his tenure.

“And I was in Kisumu, he came to see me, and once Ruto learned that he was coming to see me in Kisumu, he sent the National Intelligence Service to bug my room so that he could record the conversation between Johanna Ng’eno and me,” Gachagua said on Sunday, March 1, 2026, during a church service in Nyandarua.

Political witch hunt?

The former DP described Ng’eno as his great friend, political ally and confidant who had stood by him for years. Their relationship, forged in the heat of Rift Valley politics, was rooted in shared grievances and community mobilisation.

“The honourable Johanna Ngeno is my great friend, and he’s my political ally and a confidant, and he has been very close to me for a long time. In Kisumu, he called me before I was out of the office, and he told me what William Ruto is planning, and he was very disturbed. And he felt that by Ruto doing what he intended to do, he would destabilise his own government,” Gachagua said.

By his account, Ng’eno confided that he was facing persecution for defending the rights of the Kipsigis community and warned of an imminent plot to impeach the deputy president.

“And we had a big discussion, and he told me what he was going through and the way he was being persecuted for fighting for the rights of the Kipisigis people. He told me that a plan had been hatched to remove me from office because I was also fighting for the interest of my community, which he was fighting for his community.”

The contents of the tapes have never been made public. But Gachagua said that once the recordings were delivered to the president’s inner circle, the simmering impeachment push gained urgency. What had been political murmurs in July hardened into coordinated action by early October.

The impeachment

The National Assembly voted to impeach Gachagua on October 8, 2024. Ten days later, the Senate upheld the charges and sanctioned his removal, marking one of the most consequential political ruptures in Kenya’s recent history.

The Kisumu meeting occurred at a delicate moment. Earlier that day, Gachagua had toured the Nyanza region alongside President Ruto, in what was seen as a strategic charm offensive in opposition strongholds following improved relations with veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga. Publicly, unity prevailed. Privately, distrust deepened.

According to his narrative, once the tapes reached the president, Ng’eno was summoned and “thoroughly intimidated.”  

The political fallout was swift and visible. Within days, relations between the President and his Deputy deteriorated dramatically. During a subsequent tour of Kirinyaga County, the helicopter ferrying Gachagua was abruptly recalled to Nairobi shortly after landing.

Gachagua’s apology

In the days leading up to his impeachment, Gachagua made a public appeal for reconciliation. Speaking during a church service, he apologised to Ruto and Members of Parliament.

However, he later clarified that the gesture was not an admission of wrongdoing.

“I want to clarify that my apology to President William Ruto didn’t imply that I am guilty. It was no way an admission of these ridiculous accusations meant to overturn the will of the people. It was just a gesture to ask for forgiveness in case there is something I may have done unknowingly that upset him,” he said.

In an extensive interview at his Karen residence, Gachagua maintained that President Ruto had never formally pointed out any specific misconduct on his part, reinforcing his argument that the impeachment was politically engineered.