Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has turned President William Ruto’s own words against him by sharing an old video of Ruto aggressively questioning President Uhuru Kenyatta about high fuel prices during the previous administration. Gachagua’s message to Ruto was simple and pointed: answer those same questions now.
In the video Ruto and his allies had confronted Uhuru demanding to know why fuel prices in Kenya were higher than those in Uganda despite Uganda being a landlocked country that receives all its fuel through Kenya. The argument was that if Uganda could sell fuel cheaply after paying for transit through Kenya then there was no justification for Kenyans to pay more at the pump.
The questions Ruto’s team posed then were sharp and carried the full force of an opposition holding a government to account. They pointed to state capture and conflict of interest as the driving forces behind the inflated fuel prices that were hurting ordinary Kenyans under Uhuru’s watch. The rhetoric was powerful and resonated widely with a public frustrated by the cost of living.
Gachagua shared the clip on Facebook with a brief but devastating caption. “These are the questions you posed then. Please answer the same to the people of Kenya on state capture and conflict of interest,” he wrote allowing the old footage to make the argument for him without needing to elaborate further.
The post landed at a particularly painful moment for the Ruto administration. Nationwide protests over soaring fuel prices have entered their second day with the matatu strike still firmly in place after operators rejected the government’s Ksh 10 reduction in diesel prices as wholly inadequate. Nairobi’s CBD remains deserted and commuters are walking long distances or paying inflated boda boda and cab fares to get to work.
Gachagua’s DCP has been among the most vocal opposition voices during the crisis with party deputy leader Cleophas Malala earlier dismissing the Ksh 10 cut and insisting the strike would continue until the government removes its profit margin from the landed cost of fuel.
The former DP’s post has since gone viral reigniting debate about political consistency and whether leaders are held to the same standard in government as they are in opposition.