NAIROBI, Kenya — Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has renewed his accusation that President William Ruto is running a sprawling personal business empire from State House, telling Kenyans in the diaspora that the President has effectively taken over “every sector” of the economy.
Speaking to members of the Kenyan community in Portland, Oregon, as part of a wider US tour, Gachagua described what he called “state capture,” alleging that Ruto’s business interests span construction, banking, insurance and supplies, among other sectors, and that this has created an uneven playing field for other Kenyans.
Gachagua, who leads the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), told the gathering that Kenya’s weak economic performance stemmed from what he characterised as the President’s outsized commercial footprint.
“There’s no money in circulation, and business is not thriving because the country has been taken over by what we call state capture. William Ruto is doing all the businesses in the country,” he said.
He went on to list a range of sectors he claimed the President was involved in. “He is in banking, he is in insurance, he is in medical, he is in steel, he is in cement, he is in tiles, MDF boards, high schools, nursery schools, ICT… in fact of late he has gone into matatu, police uniform… he literally has driven all Kenyans out of business, he’s doing everything,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua did not present documentary evidence or ownership records to support the claims during his Portland remarks. Neither State House nor President Ruto’s office had responded to the specific allegations at the time of filing.
The accusation echoes similar, previously unsubstantiated claims Gachagua has made in recent months accusing Ruto of controlling businesses in sectors ranging from fuel importation to public transport, including an earlier claim that he was compiling a list of companies allegedly linked to the President for a proposed consumer boycott.
Turning to his platform, Gachagua said tackling corruption would be the top priority of a United Opposition government, alongside police reform and scrapping the affordable housing levy.
“If we deal with corruption, we shall do away with 40 percent of Kenya’s problems, and I believe I’m the guy to deal with corruption because if I were corrupt, William Ruto would have jailed me… So you see, William Ruto, we have plans,” he said.
Gachagua reiterated his belief that he has the best chance of unseating Ruto in 2027, while stressing he would support whichever candidate the United Opposition ultimately settles on.
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“I am the leading contender, but I will support whoever we settle on unconditionally. Let the rest commit to the same,” he said.
He also defended the opposition’s strategy of delaying the announcement of its joint presidential candidate, arguing that naming a flagbearer too early would expose that person to sustained political attacks.
“Tukitoa mtu saa hii, atatuhangaisha” — releasing a name now would only subject that person to harassment, he said — before drawing a comparison to the 2002 election. “Na nilimwambia Babu, Mwai Kibaki alikubaliwa kama mgombea siku 73 kabla ya uchaguzi” — telling Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka that Mwai Kibaki was similarly agreed upon as the opposition’s presidential candidate only 73 days before that year’s election.
Gachagua’s Portland remarks are the latest in a lengthy public dispute with his former boss since his removal from the Deputy Presidency through impeachment in October 2024.
He has previously accused Ruto of, among other things, capturing the National Transport and Safety Authority, using a fuel-scandal crackdown to protect his own business interests, and amassing wealth that he has separately claimed makes Ruto a US dollar billionaire — allegations that have not been independently verified and that the President’s allies have previously dismissed as politically motivated.
