Gachagua recounts how Ruto’s failed promises led to a booing incident in Embu
By Steve Ireri, October 9, 2025Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revisited a past confrontation between President William Ruto and Embu residents, recalling how the Head of State was booed during a public event over what locals perceived as lies and unfulfilled promises.
Speaking during an interview with Embu radio stations on Thursday, October 9, 2025, Gachagua said that the president’s relationship with Embu residents deteriorated long before their personal political fallout, insisting that he was not to blame for the growing discontent in the region.
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He said that the people of Embu had already turned against Ruto after feeling deceived by government pledges that never materialised, particularly the Social Health Authority (SHA) scheme and the Affordable Housing project.
“When we last went to Embu with the President for a Catholic bishop’s ceremony, he began speaking about the Social Health Authority and the Affordable Housing project, but the people started booing him. It was not me who turned them against him; it was the Embu people themselves,” he said.
Gachagua said that Ruto had assured Kenyans of major reforms in health and housing, but both programmes had failed to take off, leaving many citizens disappointed.
He explained that during one of their last visits to Embu, while he was still serving as Deputy President, Ruto attempted to promote the two initiatives during a Catholic bishop’s ceremony, only for the crowd to respond with open hostility.
“So, I am not the one who first refused to support him; the Embu people had already done so.”
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According to Gachagua, the jeers were a clear message from the people, reflecting their growing frustration with the administration.
He said he simply watched from the sidelines as Embu residents expressed their anger, and that it was wrong for anyone to claim he had turned people against the president when their dissatisfaction was already evident.
“And I just saw them boo him, and it meant they had detached from him a long time ago. I did not influence them. I just found them hating Ruto and joined them,” he shared.
He recounted another tense encounter in Mbeere North during the burial of former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti’s son, where the public refused to listen to a message from Ruto that was to be read by former Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi.
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Gachagua said mourners openly warned Muturi not to deliver the president’s remarks, arguing that they did not want to hear anything from the head of state or his allies.
“That is why I believe that in the Mbeere North by-election, it will not be Ruto’s candidate who wins but Karish, because he is the people’s choice. I only listen to what people are saying. I remember another time when we had come for the burial of Kivuti’s son in Mbeere North. Former Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi tried to read the President’s message, but those in attendance warned him not to,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua further suggested that the Embu incident was a sign of shifting political ground in the region, noting that residents were ready to back new leaders who understood their struggles.
He also predicted that in the upcoming Mbeere North by-election, Ruto’s preferred candidate would lose to local hopeful Karish, whom he described as the people’s choice.
“The Mbeere people did not want to hear anything from him, and I just sat there watching without saying a word. I did not influence anything. The truth is that Embu people walked away from the President a long time ago, I only joined them later. That is why I believe that in the Mbeere North by-election, it will not be Ruto’s candidate who wins but Karish, because he is the people’s choice. I only listen to what people are saying,” Gachagua said.