Rigathi Gachagua Ruto's former deputy president who was impeached in October 2024 is the only viable challenger through his Democracy for the Citizens Party (AC Vol 65 No 20 The deputy takes the fall Vol 65 No 22 Ruto's impeachment of his Deputy starts to backfire & Vol 66 No 11 Impeached but unbowed)...

Rigathi Gachagua Ruto's former Deputy President whose court case contesting his impeachment opened on 27 April quipped that Ruto should not leave Rome before securing blessings from Pope Leo XIV...

Leading opposition politicians including former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka say that the perception of bias in favour of the RSF – accused by the United Nations of having committed genocidal acts during its siege of El Fasher – has damaged Kenya's standing in the region (Dispatches 23/2/26 UN says Hemeti's RSF committed genocide in siege of El Fasher)...

That is the most confident he has sounded since before the Gen Z protests stormed Parliament in June 2024 leading him to sack his cabinet create a de facto unity government with the late Raila Odinga less than two years after narrowly defeating Odinga for the presidency and several months later having his Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua impeached (AC Vol 65 No 16 Raila names his price)...

Most of the aspiring candidates are contesting in the old Rift Valley and Central Provinces the latter a hint that Ruto still has a strong base among the Gikuyu despite his former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua's hopes of peeling off support to his new Democracy for the Citizens Party (AC Vol 66 No 24 Ruto holds the parties together)...

In Mbeere North Embu County former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's Democracy for the Citizens Party came within 500 votes of defeating Ruto's UDA...

With Central Province deeply divided since Ruto ditched his Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua last year winning Western Kenya plus the Rift Valley would likely be enough to carry Ruto to a second term...

The vacuum also leaves a golden opportunity for the Anyone But Ruto group of leaders – including former Deputy President Kalonzo Musyoka Ruto's former deputy Rigathi Gachagua (impeached last year) and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i...

That support was partly driven by fears that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua a bitter critic of Sakaja was gaining ground in the capital (Dispatches 30/4/25 State House has a problem with Nairobi's political boss)...