NAIROBI, Kenya – Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has resigned from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), denouncing the ruling party as a failed political experiment that has betrayed its founding ideals and the trust of millions of Kenyans.
In a resignation letter addressed to the UDA Secretary General on Monday, Gachagua declared his immediate departure from the party he helped found, branding it “the most dangerous political outfit” and accusing it of abandoning its promises in favor of corruption, elitism, and economic mismanagement.
“What began as a political movement of hope and inclusion has now become a retrogressive regime unfit to govern this nation,” Gachagua wrote. “The party has exhausted and wasted a Kenyan moment to take off economically, socially, and politically.”
Gachagua’s exit marks a dramatic political rupture between him and President William Ruto, under whose administration he served as Deputy President from 2022 until he was impeached late 2024.
In his lengthy, point-by-point rebuke of UDA’s governance, Gachagua listed what he called a “litany of lies” — broken promises on healthcare, education, housing, agriculture, economic transformation, and women’s rights.
‘It Was a Lie’
Gachagua cited the 2022 Kenya Kwanza manifesto, which promised unity, institutional strength, and economic inclusion, as a betrayal of public trust.
“As a party and millions of Kenyans, we believed and trusted him [Ruto] and this statement. It was a lie. No nation can be built on a litany of lies,” he stated.
He was particularly critical of the much-publicized “Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda,” dismissing the Hustler Fund — a flagship program — as tokenistic.
“What business can Ksh 500 start sustainably?” he posed, calling it symbolic of a government disconnected from real economic struggles.
Attacks on Key Sectors
Gachagua accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of turning key sectors into “centers of crime,” singling out housing, agriculture, and healthcare.
He claimed the affordable housing program had turned into a predatory scheme, the healthcare reforms were driven by bureaucratic profiteering, and farmers were left without fertilizer as elites grabbed agricultural land.
He went on to blast UDA’s record on education and women’s rights, pointing to a “failed” CBC curriculum and the administration’s failure to implement the two-thirds gender rule or provide promised sanitary products in schools.
Though he stopped short of announcing his next political move, Gachagua’s resignation suggests a formal break with the political formation that brought him to power.
It also positions him as a potential rallying figure for disaffected Kenya Kwanza supporters.
The former deputy president ended his letter with an indictment of the party he once helped build:
“The UDA party is delivering failure. No Kenyan child, farmer, woman, or elder is safe under this regime. Every Kenyan has been left behind.”
