Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says he bears no ill will toward Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna for backing his removal from office, according to The Star, Kenya. In a KTN interview aired Wednesday, Gachagua said Sifuna was acting on behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) at a time when the two men belonged to rival camps. The Senate removed Gachagua on October 17, 2024, after 54 senators upheld five of the 11 charges brought against him.
The two politicians now serve as co-principals in the United Opposition, a grouping trying to settle on one presidential candidate to face President William Ruto in 2027.
Why it matters
Gachagua's remarks matter because the opposition's chances in 2027 depend on whether its leaders can set aside the disputes of the past. Sifuna has been named as a possible contender for the coalition's single ticket, so any lingering hostility between the two men could complicate those talks. By publicly closing the matter, Gachagua removes one potential source of friction as negotiations continue.
His comments also carry weight inside his own party. The Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader said he is willing to welcome former Kenya Kwanza figures who have broken with the ruling coalition, and his stance on the impeachment signals that old votes will not be held against them.
Gachagua says he raised the issue directly with Sifuna
According to The Star, Kenya, Gachagua said he asked Sifuna about his role in the impeachment when the senator visited his Wamunyoro home on October 20. Gachagua said he wanted to know how Sifuna squared that decision with their current partnership.
The former Deputy President said Sifuna explained that ODM, then in opposition, saw an opening when Ruto sought the party's support for the removal of a deputy who had helped deliver the Mount Kenya vote in 2022. In Gachagua's account, Sifuna argued that weakening the President's standing in that region served ODM's interests at the time.
Gachagua said Sifuna told him that anyone in ODM's position would have made the same call. He quoted the senator as saying that removing Gachagua cost Ruto the Mountain region, and that the President had lost it as a result.
Gachagua said he accepted that reasoning. He argued that a vote from a political opponent does not amount to betrayal, and that the real breach came from people inside Kenya Kwanza with whom he had campaigned and agreed on how to govern.
Sifuna was ODM secretary general during the impeachment and took part in the party's key decisions. He later broke with the party leadership over its backing of Ruto's re-election bid, and the dispute ended with his removal as secretary general after former party leader Raila Odinga died in October 2025.
An open door for defectors, and a warning for Ruto
Gachagua said DCP will not screen former Kenya Kwanza allies who want to join, provided they pay for party membership and formally announce the move. He said such figures have had time to reckon with their choices and to read the public mood.
On the impeachment itself, Gachagua said the episode now works in the opposition's favour. He described it as a hidden advantage and said he is happier than he was before, according to The Star, Kenya.
He also said the removal will remain a burden for Ruto in Mount Kenya, where the President will have to explain to voters why his running mate of 2022 is no longer in office. Gachagua said western and Nyanza voters have no such questions for the President because they were never in his camp.
Gachagua has floated his own presidential ambition but has increasingly cast himself as a figure who can hold the opposition together, meeting rival leaders amid fears that a contest for the ticket could split the coalition. He said personal grievances must give way if the group is to unseat the incumbent, and that he is prepared to work with the people who voted him out.
What to watch: whether the United Opposition can agree on a single candidate without the contest over its ticket reopening the divisions Gachagua says he has put behind him.
