NAIROBI, Kenya – Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has dismissed claims that he attempted to blackmail President William Ruto by demanding Sh10 billion in exchange for political support in the Mt. Kenya region.
In a televised interview on KTN News on Monday evening, Gachagua categorically denied the allegation, which was made by the President during a media engagement in Nyeri last month.
At the time, Ruto claimed that Gachagua had told him he would make him a one-term president unless he released the funds.
“I did not blackmail the President. If I had, that would have been the number one accusation in the impeachment motion against me in Parliament. But it did not appear anywhere,” Gachagua said, noting that blackmail is a criminal offence.
He questioned the timing of the President’s remarks, suggesting the claim was politically motivated.
“When he was in Western Kenya, he said I was incompetent and tribal. He didn’t mention anything about Sh10 billion. That only came up when he visited Mt. Kenya,” he added.
The former Deputy President also refuted the suggestion that he needed financial assistance, asserting that he is a successful businessman with independent means.
“I’ve worked for years and made my own money. I joined the campaign out of conviction. Nobody forced me. I didn’t ask him for money,” he said. “In fact, I spent my own resources and received support from friends.”
Gachagua maintained that had such a demand actually taken place, the President would have brought it up much earlier.
“If this happened, he would have said so six months ago,” he said.
The public spat follows President Ruto’s recent five-day development tour of the Mt. Kenya region, where he appeared to lay blame on Gachagua for political friction in the area.
Gachagua and Ruto have fallen out in recent months, with the former DP increasingly vocal in his criticism of the President’s leadership and political strategy—particularly in Mt. Kenya, where succession battles and regional loyalty remain deeply contentious.
