Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua disclosed that his own sons were the driving force behind his fiery 2024 criticism of President William Ruto and National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Noordin Haji.
Speaking to a group of youth on Thursday, October 9, during an engagement in an undisclosed location, Gachagua attributed the now-infamous Mombasa press briefing to a heartfelt family intervention amid the Gen Z-led protests against the Finance Bill.
The protests, which erupted in June 2024, saw thousands of young Kenyans take to the streets, decrying proposed tax hikes as burdensome amid economic hardships.
Ruto's administration responded by withdrawing the bill, but not before labeling some demonstrators as "criminals," a remark that ignited national fury.
Gachagua, then still in office, used a Mombasa media address to lambast Ruto and Haji for allegedly plotting to undermine the youth movement, calling their actions a betrayal of the very generation that propelled Kenya Kwanza to power.
"That statement I made in Mombasa, I was pushed by my sons," Gachagua revealed, his voice laced with paternal pride. "Everybody listens to their children. They told me Ruto called the youths criminals. My children sat me down and told me, 'Dad, your boss has called us criminals.'"
He recounted how the boys, moved by the online outrage, urged immediate action.
"They told me that I must immediately release a press statement and address the matter. I heard them because they are my children," the former DP added, emphasizing the personal stakes in a politically charged era.
Now leading the DCP after his dramatic impeachment in October 2024, Gachagua used the forum to rally the youth further.
"Once you guys decide what should happen to this country, your voice matters. I tell you, nobody will argue with you. If you do the right thing, then history will judge you kindly," he declared, drawing cheers from the audience.
Gachagua's revelation humanizes a pivotal moment in Kenya's recent political turbulence, revealing the generational rift within the ruling coalition.
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