Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched a sweeping attack on President William Ruto’s four-year record in office, accusing his administration of failing on security, corruption, human rights and key public programmes as Kenya enters the final one-year countdown to the August 2027 General Election.
In what he described as an “accountability statement and performance audit”, Gachagua sought to turn the anniversary of the August 9, 2022 election into an assessment of the Kenya Kwanza government’s campaign promises and its record in office.
The former Deputy President, who was elected alongside Ruto in 2022 before their political fallout, said the administration had betrayed the expectations of Kenyans who backed the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
“Four years later, today, Mr. William Ruto has betrayed the trust bestowed on him by the people of Kenya,” Gachagua said.
He said his assessment was not centred on his personal differences with the President but on whether the government had delivered on its election pledges.
“It is not about personalities. It is about implementing promises with performance, commitments with delivery, and expectations with outcomes,” he said.
Gachagua’s address covered security, alleged extrajudicial killings and abductions, corruption, healthcare, affordable housing, eCitizen collections, drug abuse and the treatment of foreigners in Kenya.
His strongest criticism centred on security and the rule of law.
Gachagua alleged there had been a “total breakdown of law and order” and accused senior government and security officials of failing to protect Kenyans.
“He has achieved the unimaginable. There is a total breakdown of law and order,” he claimed.
He further alleged that organised groups had been allowed to operate alongside police officers during political and public events.
Gachagua cited attacks at churches and incidents during demonstrations as examples of what he described as a dangerous erosion of the mandate of the National Police Service.
He also levelled serious allegations against the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and senior security officials over abductions and killings.
The claims were made by Gachagua in his political address and were not independently established in the material accompanying the statement. The officials and institutions accused were not quoted responding to the allegations.
Gachagua also revisited killings and disappearances linked to demonstrations, including the 2024 Gen Z protests, accusing the government of failing to protect young people exercising their constitutional rights.
“Our children are not safe,” he said. “Investors are not safe. Tourists are not safe. No foreigner is safe.”
He extended his criticism to the government’s handling of foreign nationals, citing cases involving Ugandan opposition figures, Turkish asylum seekers, Zimbabwean lawyer Brian Kagoro and Chinese nationals involved in commercial disputes.
Gachagua argued that the incidents risked damaging Kenya’s reputation as a safe destination for investors, political visitors and foreigners.
The former Deputy President also accused the administration of failing to tackle corruption despite Kenya Kwanza campaigning on a commitment to strengthen accountability and enforce Chapter Six of the Constitution.
He cited Kenya’s performance in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and raised questions over procurement, State House expenditure and government contracts.
Gachagua further questioned government spending through the eCitizen platform and other major programmes, arguing that Kenyans had not received sufficient explanations on how public funds were being managed.
He pointed to audit concerns surrounding government revenue collections and demanded greater transparency.
Healthcare was another major target.
Gachagua criticised the Social Health Authority, claiming hospitals, counties and faith-based health facilities were owed billions of shillings and questioning the financial sustainability of the new health financing system.
“SHA makes a loss of Sh6 billion a month. Hospitals and faith-based organisations and counties are owed Sh105 billion today,” he alleged.
He also questioned management of the Affordable Housing Programme, including how housing levy deductions are handled and invested.
Gachagua demanded disclosure of fees paid to firms involved in managing the funds and questioned whether political interests were influencing the programme.
His address also returned to the problem of alcohol and drug abuse, an issue he championed while serving as Deputy President.
Gachagua said the government had abandoned interventions he spearheaded, including multi-agency meetings, proposed reforms to alcohol licensing and the establishment of rehabilitation centres.
“William Ruto’s four years have achieved unwarranted excessive availability of drugs to our young people, killing them and leaving others as zombies,” he claimed.
He pledged to revive the campaign against alcohol and drug abuse should his political camp take power after the next election.
“I am confident that on August 10, 2027, we will revisit this problem and eradicate this vice in totality,” he said.
The address marks an escalation of Gachagua’s political offensive against his former boss as the country moves towards the August 10, 2027 General Election.
Having once been one of the most prominent defenders of the Kenya Kwanza administration, Gachagua is now attempting to position himself among Ruto’s fiercest critics and frame the coming election as a referendum on the President’s first term.
He also used Ruto’s own 2022 campaign messaging against him, recalling the President’s warning at the time against the personalization of power and erosion of constitutional democracy.
Gachagua argued that the administration had instead moved towards the very political system Ruto once warned voters against.
“When he was presenting this choice, little did we know that he was presenting a lie,” he said.
With exactly one year remaining before the scheduled election, Gachagua’s address signals that the battle over Ruto’s first-term record is likely to become a central feature of the 2027 campaign.
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