NAIROBI, Kenya- DCP Leader Rigathi Gachagua has sharply rebuked President William Ruto over his call for older politicians to make room for younger leaders, turning the President’s youth-centred message into a wider challenge over protest deaths, disappearances and accountability.
Gachagua’s response followed President Ruto’s remarks during his Gusii development tour, where he accused the former Deputy President of targeting emerging politicians and said he, Gachagua and Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka should leave active politics in 2032 to give younger Kenyans room to lead.
President Ruto named several politicians, including Nyandarua Senator John Methu, as young leaders he said should be allowed to grow without intimidation.
“I hear you are claiming that young leaders are being denied a chance to lead. Interesting! Strange. Is that really you talking about young Kenyans? Who kills young people over fictitious and moribund terrorism cases?,” Gachagua posed.
But Gachagua said the President could not credibly present himself as a defender of young leaders while questions over the treatment of young people during recent protests remain unresolved.
In a statement, Gachagua referred to President Ruto as “Mr Taxes” and accused his administration of failing Kenyans while placing a heavy tax burden on households.
He also cited the deaths of young Kenyans, including Rex Masai, Albert Ojwang and Boniface Kariuki, alongside reports of abductions and injuries linked to the 2024 Gen Z protests and the 2025 Saba Saba demonstrations.
“Is that really you talking about young Kenyans?” Gachagua asked, arguing that those who died in the protests had also been part of the country’s future leadership.
Ruto frames dispute as generational contest
President Ruto had framed his remarks as a defence of younger political figures, saying Gachagua should stop fighting leaders who are building their political careers.
He singled out National Assembly Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, MP Ndindi Nyoro, Senator Methu and UDA National Treasurer Japheth Nyakundi, among others.
The President said the current generation of senior politicians should eventually exit the political stage and allow younger leaders to take charge.
However, Gachagua argued that the question of youth leadership cannot be separated from what he described as unresolved demands for justice by families of those killed, injured or reported missing during demonstrations.
He made serious accusations that President Ruto had ordered abductions, shootings and killings.
Human-rights bodies documented protest deaths
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has separately documented deaths, injuries, arrests and enforced disappearances linked to the protests.
In its report covering the June-July 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations, KNCHR recorded 60 deaths and 601 injuries, while also documenting 74 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances by November 2024.
The commission’s third update on the July 2025 Saba Saba demonstrations reported 38 deaths, with most of the identified victims aged below 25. It said many of the postmortems conducted at the time pointed to gunshot injuries.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority has also investigated individual incidents arising from the protest period.
In its policing-monitoring report, IPOA said the investigation file into Boniface Kariuki’s death was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and that one police officer was charged following its recommendations.
Methu sits at centre of the exchange
Gachagua’s response also sought to counter President Ruto’s assertion that he is hostile to youthful leaders.
He pointed to Senator Methu, one of the youngest elected leaders in the 13th Parliament, as evidence that the Democracy for the Citizens Party has entrusted young politicians with top leadership roles.
Methu was appointed DCP Secretary-General designate in May and has since become one of the party’s most visible figures.
DCP’s leadership page now lists the Nyandarua Senator as its Secretary General.
That has placed Methu at the centre of the Ruto-Gachagua political exchange.
The latest clash signals that the battle for Kenya’s youth vote ahead of the 2027 General Election will not only be about age and political succession.
It is increasingly becoming a contest over jobs, taxes, police accountability and the unresolved legacy of the Gen Z protests.
