Gachagua says he would step aside for a younger rival, as opposition scrambles to unite behind a single 2027 challenger
Spokane, Washington, Sept. 6
In a stunning display of political self-sacrifice, Kenya’s impeached former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua has declared he is willing to abandon his own presidential ambitions and instead serve as running mate to a senator four decades his junior, in what he frames as a make-or-break bid to drive President William Ruto from power in 2027.
Speaking to a packed hall of Kenyan diaspora in Spokane on Saturday during an extended U.S. tour, Gachagua made the extraordinary offer to Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, 44, telling the crowd there was “no problem” with the arrangement either way.
“I’m willing and ready. By the way, there’s no problem. Even I, Riggy G, I can deputise Sifuna,” Gachagua declared, using his popular nickname, before doubling down elsewhere in his remarks: “Sifuna can deputise me.”
The offer lands like a political grenade into Kenya’s fractious opposition, where rival camps have spent months bickering over who should lead a unified charge against Ruto rather than risk splitting the anti-government vote. Gachagua, who was dramatically impeached and removed from the deputy presidency after a bitter falling-out with the man he once helped elect, now casts himself as a kingmaker willing to subordinate his own ambitions for the sake of victory.
“We don’t want to go for a run-off. We want to finish with this guy round one,” he told the crowd, framing the 2027 race as an existential, must-win battle.
The former deputy president, who now leads the Democratic Change Party (DCP), named a trio of men he says could credibly lead an opposition ticket: himself, Sifuna and veteran Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka — urging supporters not to be “discouraged by anybody” in backing whichever pairing emerges from ongoing coalition talks reportedly under way in Naivasha.
The remarks also thrust Gachagua into a brewing generational battle within opposition ranks. He took a direct swipe at COTU boss Francis Atwoli, who has publicly questioned whether the 44-year-old Sifuna is too young and inexperienced for the presidency, and pushed back on Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot’s claims that Sifuna lacks a broad enough support base to mount a serious challenge. Gachagua countered that Mount Kenya voters have previously rallied behind candidates from outside their own region, and urged young leaders to stop accepting the label “leaders of tomorrow.”
“Don’t be discouraged by anybody. Go for it,” he told Sifuna and Kenya’s younger political class.
Whether the offer amounts to a serious coalition blueprint or another opening salvo in Kenya’s increasingly theatrical opposition jockeying remains to be seen — but it has already set tongues wagging over whether the man once a heartbeat from the presidency is truly prepared to play second fiddle in 2027, or is simply keeping his own options open.