Political analyst Prof. Herman Manyora has crowned Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) party leader Rigathi Gachagua as the undisputed King of opposition politics.
Speaking during an interview with one of the local TV stations on the night of Monday, June 30, 2025, Manyora argued that the former Deputy President has outshone the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, Raila Odinga.
According to the University of Nairobi (UoN) lecturer, Gachagua has replaced Raila as the man to watch in terms of opposition politics.
Manyora argues that the former Mathira Member of Parliament (MP) is the most influential and powerful opposition politician who knows how to deliver pain to President William Ruto.
“Gachagua is the undisputed King of Opposition Politics. He has replaced Raila as the man to watch when you are talking about opposition politics. He is the most influential and powerful. He knows how to deliver pain to President Ruto and delivers it well,” Manyora said.
Scaring Ruto
Manyora went ahead to argue that Gachagua’s ability to scare and give the president sleepless nights is unmatched.
“Whether he will proceed and run for presidency, that is another conversation, and whether he proceeds and wins, that is also another different conversation, but in terms of his abilities to scare and give the president sleepless nights, he is doing that very well,” he said.
Further, Manyora noted that Gachagua has managed to beat the state at their own game in what he terms a plot to isolate his people.
“The moment they were trying to isolate his people so that the rest of the country could be against the mountain, he swung into cousins, and today or yesterday I saw him swinging into mashemeji. He is beating them at their own game,” Manyora noted.
Gachagua’s attacks against Ruto
A few days ago, Gachagua launched a fresh attack on President Ruto, accusing him of blaming former allies to conceal his own failures in government.
Speaking during an interview on a local media station on June 27, 2025, Gachagua dismissed characterisations of himself and other former government officials as “political rejects”, insisting that their dismissals reflect Ruto’s tendency to blame others for systemic failures.
“We are not political rejects because the people of Kenya never rejected me. It’s William Ruto who rejected me. Justin Muturi was not rejected by the people of Kenya. He was rejected by William Ruto. Mithika Linturi was rejected by William Ruto. It’s only William Ruto who rejected us,” Gachagua stated.
