Former Attorney General and Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has disclosed new details about the political calculations that led President William Ruto to select Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate during the 2022 general election campaigns.
Speaking about events leading up to the announcement, Muturi said the decision was reached after intense consultations within the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leadership, which insisted that the deputy presidential candidate had to come from the party and from the Mt. Kenya region.
Muturi revealed that on the night before the running mate was unveiled, Ruto called him while he was in Mombasa and requested that they meet at his Karen residence in Nairobi.
During the meeting, Ruto explained that although he had earlier considered Muturi for the position, the internal position taken by UDA leaders made it impossible.
According to Muturi, Ruto told him that party leaders were firm that the running mate must be drawn from UDA and represent the Mt. Kenya voting bloc.
Since Muturi belonged to the Democratic Party and could not switch to UDA at the time, the promise that had previously been made to him could not be fulfilled.
Muturi said he accepted the explanation and assured Ruto that he understood the circumstances surrounding the decision.
However, the discussion did not end there. Muturi said Ruto explained that there was still a stalemate within his team regarding who should be selected between then-Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki and Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
Although a majority within the team had initially supported Kindiki, Muturi said Ruto had reservations about his political influence in the Mt. Kenya region. According to Muturi, Ruto felt Kindiki lacked sufficient political experience and grassroots mobilization strength.
Muturi added that Ruto noted that some residents in the region even questioned Kindiki’s local political identity because he rarely spoke Kikuyu, a factor that could affect voter connection in the politically influential region.
Eventually, Ruto concluded that choosing Kindiki would have been politically risky for the campaign. Muturi said the president believed the decision could have cost the Kenya Kwanza alliance crucial votes.
“He told me he had made up his mind that Rigathi Gachagua would be the running mate because picking Kindiki would have been political suicide,” Muturi recalled.
Muturi said he agreed with that assessment at the time, arguing that Gachagua had a strong political network and the ability to mobilize voters across the Mt. Kenya region.
According to Muturi, the outcome of the election appeared to validate that strategy, noting that Gachagua played a significant role in delivering the region’s votes to the Kenya Kwanza alliance during the 2022 presidential contest.