President William Ruto has told former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that he did not make him president, delivering a pointed public rebuke of the Democracy for Citizens (DCP) party leader as their long-running feud continues to dominate politics in Kenya.
The president told Gachagua "You did not make me president," and went on to question the DCP leader's conduct, in remarks aimed at the heart of the former deputy president's central political claim — that he delivered the Mt. Kenya vote which handed Ruto the 2022 election victory.
Ruto and Gachagua were elected together in the August 2022 general election on the Kenya Kwanza alliance ticket, defeating Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition. Ruto, who served as deputy president under Uhuru Kenyatta for ten years, took office as Kenya's fifth president in September 2022, with Gachagua, a former Mathira Member of Parliament, as his deputy.
Throughout their time in office, Gachagua claimed credit for mobilizing the Mt. Kenya region, which voted overwhelmingly for Kenya Kwanza, and styled himself as the community's political kingpin. Ruto's latest remark was a direct rejection of that narrative, with the president maintaining that his mandate came from voters across the country.
The relationship between the two men broke down in public during their first two years in power.
