Inside the high-stakes united opposition meeting to reign in on Gachagua

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is proving to be a controversial figure in the united opposition outfit, with his actions triggering a split that is threatening to sink the outfit and boosting president William Ruto’s chances of victory in the 2027 presidential elections.

Credible reports indicate a deep split in the opposition, corroborated by unfolding political events that have taken a clear pattern of two rival outfits with one coalescing around Gachagua/Kalonzo and the other uniting the remaining opposition politicians.

At the heart of the fallout is what insiders and critics describe as “Gachagua’s untamed tongue” that has made several proclamations which angered his counterparts in the outfit.

Concerned that the outfit is losing popular support and that President William Ruto’s allies are milking every statement to their advantage, the united opposition outfit is considering swift remedial measures to curb the trend and mend its image that has suffered significantly I the wake of Gachagua’s actions.

A statement by Homabay Senator Moses Kajwang issued in Bondo during the burial of Raila Odinga’s sister Baryl Odinga was a powerful reflective moment that inspired action from a number of opposition principals who linked the warning to remarks made by Gachagua in the recent past and the image he has increasingly projected.

This loaded statement triggered intense reflection and was viewed in the full context of all Kalonzo’s allies within the opposition outfit and their conduct that is in the public domain.

A leading politician who is allied to Gachagua told this writer that the opposition is planning a retreat to mend fences before it is torn apart, with external forces believed to be catalysing the fallout and pushing a narrative on social media.

He added that although may are reassessing their continued association with the DCP leader, it is unlikely that any of them will reconsidering their position and bolt out of ”the only outfit that has realistic chances of rising to power”.

Admitting that the outfit is going through a turbulent phase largely sparked by the conduct of its members, the opposition bigshot lifted the lid on some of the issues that will be addressed.

The retreat will seek to streamline the communication channels within the opposition with a press briefing to clarify what constitutes an official position of the united opposition versus an individual principal/party position.

Even after Mukhisa Kituyi was picked as the spokesperson of the united opposition, Gachagua has increasingly eclipsed Kituyi with remarks that extend beyond his DCP party and paint the united opposition in bad light.

Principals have also reportedly raised issues with Gachagua projecting the outfit as a union where all partners are equal but some are more equal than others based on the votes that they bring on the table and the perceived strength of the political parties that they lead.

The meeting will also seek to tame what some have labelled as “Gachagua’s loose tongue” which has been associated with remarks that have been interpreted to imply that the outfit is pushing an agenda of ethnic balcanisation rather than national unity.

Notably, several principals distanced themselves from Gachagua’s controversial remarks, including one made in Kariobangi in which he exuded confidence of mobilizing support from members of his ethnic community to sweep all elective seats in Nairobi.

Gachagua alleged that he had inked a deal with Kalonzo Musyoka with all the seats shared among the two political outfits that they lead to the exclusion of other parties that make up the united opposition outfit.

The opposition bigwigs are deliberating on the exact date and venue of the meeting which will be fronted as routine housekeeping and participation limited to the principals.