Since his impeachment as deputy president in October 2024, Rigathi Gachagua has been building a grassroots party in his quest to wrest power from William Ruto in 2027. However, his party has been rocked by defections of key allies, some from his political backyard.
Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua is rolling out its strategy ahead of the 2027 General Election at a time the one-year-old party is facing headwinds with reports of defections of key allies to other parties. The party held a retreat last weekend to discuss the new plan.
DCP deputy leader Cleophas Malala, a former Senator, has been tasked by Gachagua with spearheading the implementation of the strategy, with reports that strengthening the party at the grassroots in readiness for next year’s polls is a key objective.
“After a 3-day retreat with like-minded legislators, this morning, with the Deputy Party Leader, we have ratified the Plan of Action for the year. I have tasked Senator @Cleophasmalala to spearhead the implementation of this Action on behalf the party,” Mr. Gachagua posted on X on January 19.
Significance of the move: Gachagua is keen to position DCP as a national outfit to counter accusations by his detractors that it is a vehicle for advancing the interests of his Kikuyu ethnic community and the wider central Kenya region from where he hails. Buoyed by the party’s victories in local ward elections in Nairobi, Narok and Kakamega counties, which are outside Central Kenya, the former deputy president appears to be strategically repositioning his party to secure elective seats in other parts of the country.
Building his party into a formidable electoral machine on the national stage is a task Gachagua will have to focus on so as to negotiate for power from a point of strength, even as his former boss-turned-foe, President Ruto, deploys a political strategy to tame his rising national influence.
Gachagua blames Ruto for instigating his ouster and has vowed to make Ruto a one-term president working within the opposition. But compared to other opposition parties like Jubilee Party led by former president Uhuru Kenyatta, and Wiper Patriotic Front of former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka, DCP is a relatively new entity on Kenya’s political landscape. Also, the party is yet to attract heavyweights to propel its political agenda nationally.
However, it is the defection of several key allies, including some legislators from his home region, that poses a major challenge in his quest to build a national party, as his opponents are likely to depict Gachagua, who has declared he will run for president, as unreliable since he cannot keep friends even in his political backyard.