Former Cabinet Secretary for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Sicily Kariuki has re-emerged on the national stage, throwing her political lot behind former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua’s fledgling Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP).
The party announced her entry in a statement on X late Tuesday, hailing the move as “a shared commitment to the journey of liberating our country.”
Kariuki, a long-time technocrat who served in three Kenyatta-era ministries, resigned from Cabinet in February 2022 to contest the Nyandarua governorship but lost the Jubilee nomination to former governor Francis Kimemia after a bruising internal battle.
Her new alignment with DCP gives the upstart outfit both name recognition and administrative experience as it races to establish national structures ahead of the 2027 general election.
Gachagua has been on a recruitment blitz since unveiling the party’s green-and-gold branding in May. Earlier this month he persuaded Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba – one of President Ruto’s most outspoken critics inside the Mount Kenya bloc – to defect.
He plans to formally launch DCP on July 7 (Saba Saba Day) after shifting the venue from Nairobi to the Maa region following what he claims were government hurdles over stadium bookings.
Critics, however, question whether Gachagua’s party can transcend ethnic math/narrative and survive Kenya’s notoriously volatile coalition politics.
