Methu fingers Ruto after being teargassed in Gilgil
By Kenneth Mwenda, August 2, 2025Nyandarua Senator John Methu has once again found himself at the centre of a dramatic clash with police, this time during a political meeting in Gilgil town on Saturday, August 2, 2025.
The Senator, a vocal ally of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, claimed the police were acting on orders from President William Ruto to disrupt his activities.
“The police following instructions from Mr William Samoei Ruto have once again disrupted our peaceful meeting at Gilgil Town. You can teargas us all you want but we shall not relent. #WanTam,” Methu wrote on X.
This incident marks the second weekend in a row where Methu has purported harassment from law enforcement. Just last Sunday, during a church event and subsequent rallies in Murang’a County, police were accused of using teargas and even live ammunition to disperse Methu and other Gachagua allies in Kigumo.
In that confrontation, Methu claimed a teargas canister was thrown directly at him, forcing him and others to flee on foot. Damage to vehicles and reports of hired goons being involved only heightened the tension.
Methu escalates political tensions
These events come at a time of deepening political rifts. Methu has been increasingly outspoken against President Ruto, especially ahead of the Head of State’s planned visit to the Mt Kenya region in two weeks.
In a post on Friday, August 1, the Senator mocked the upcoming tour, accusing Ruto of trying to score political points by launching old projects completed long before he took office.
“Mr William Samoei Ruto will, in two weeks, open the Gilgil to Machinery Road that was built in 2019 and completed in 2022, minus one bridge that has now been built,” he wrote, also criticising plans to re-launch Thompson Falls and potato farming projects in Nyandarua.
Ruto has not made a significant political appearance in Mt Kenya since his public fallout with Gachagua. This silence has fuelled frustration among leaders from the region, many of whom say it has become increasingly difficult to defend the President’s administration.