Didmus Barasa Discloses Kindiki Defeated Gachagua In William Ruto's Deputy Race: "Alipata Kura Moja"

• Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's woes in the governing UDA party continue to deepen as his juniors maintain their onslaught
• The latest is Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, who claimed Gachagua would not be the deputy president were it not for President William Ruto's magnanimity
• Gachagua's call for a relook into the revenue-sharing formula in the country has thrust him into the eye of a storm, with Ruto's loyalists staging attacks from across

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa has implied that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was entrusted with the position by chance.

Speaking in Sirisia in Bungoma on Saturday, June 8, the lawmaker said Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki had been the favourite for the Mt Kenya politicians to be Ruto's running mate in the 2022 presidential election.

Barasa further shared that owing to the contention between the leaders backing Gachagua and Kindiki, a poll was stationed out in which the winner would be announced as the president's running mate.

This he said while regretting his resolve to back Gachagua, who he now faults for advancing the one man-one vote-one shilling narrative in the country's revenue sharing formula.

The outcome favoured Kindiki, according to the MP, but Ruto opted for Gachagua for reasons he did not mention.

"I have seen how talks are going on, and I am not impressed by the deputy president. Respectfully, I have had the privilege of being with the president since 2017 to date I want to remind Gachagua that when we were looking for Ruto's running mate, I was among the leaders who asked Mt Kenya leaders to lock themselves somewhere and decide who to deputise Ruto. They decided, and Gachagua got only one vote, but we convinced the leaders to back Gachagua, and Ruto defied the vote that Kindiki had won," said Barasa.

Ruto names Gachagua as his running mate

The former Mathira MP's loyalty behind Ruto paid off in 2022 after he was made the country's second in command.

Before then, Gachagua had endured humiliations at the hands of the state, which he attributed to his resolve to stick with Ruto, who had fallen out with his then boss, former president Uhuru Kenyatta.

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance settled on Gachagua after many hours of deliberation held at Ruto's official residence then in Karen, Nairobi.

While announcing Gachagua as his preferred running mate, Ruto described him as an astute debater, a successful elected politician who was a principled, resilient and fearless fighter for the right cause.

His appointment was meant to endear Ruto's candidature to over 5.85 million voters from Mt Kenya.

Other candidates who Ruto considered were Kindiki, then Tharaka Nithi senator, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru, former Kandara MP Alice Wahome (now Lands CS), former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi (now Attorney General) and former ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi (currently Prime Cabinet Secretary).

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.