Macharia Gaitho

Nairobi

Writer at Daily Nation

Comforting the Afflicted, Afflicting the Comfortable

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Articles

Why American sheriff’s ‘we will kill you’ threat video is being pushed by Ruto camp

6 days ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

“We will kill you”, Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County in the US State of Florida warned on June 13 ahead of planned nationwide demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s administration. The video, which has gone viral globally, has become the inspiration in Kenya for MPs loyal to President William Ruto.
Ojwang’s killing raises the stakes

1 week ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

Apologies for sounding like a stuck record. Early this month, this column noted President William Ruto’s public apology for the string of crimes committed by security agencies under his watch. It was an important acknowledgement of wrongdoing and implicit admission of guilt. However, there was a caveat in that an apology not accompanied by a demonstrated willingness to punish the perpetrators amounts to nothing but empty words.
Ruto, Raila, Gachagua and the complex maths shaping 2027 alliances

1 week ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

A cryptic social media post last week from presidential advisor Moses Kuria gave a good inkling of the Kenya Kwanza campaign machinery’s plans for the 2027 elections. Mr Kuria, a senior member of President William Ruto’s Council of Economic Advisors based at State House, posted on X last Thursday a congratulatory message to former President Uhuru Kenyatta on winning his legal battles for control of the Jubilee Party.
Betraying Gen Z’s ‘tribeless’ ideal

2 weeks ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma stands out as one of the loudest supporters of the Ruto-Raila coalition government. He is one of the men who dares to openly shout some of the things President William Ruto and former opposition leader Raila Odinga dare not say in public, especially on the clear strategy to demonise and isolate the populous Mt Kenya region.
Ruto must follow up on apology

3 weeks ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

President William Ruto’s public apology for the wrongs committed against Gen Z protestors is an important acknowledgement that his regime is guilty of horrific human rights abuses. However, a vague and generalised apology is worthless unless accompanied by a true and accurate disclosure of all the abductions, illegal confinements, torture, enforced disappearances and murders.
It’s voter bribery, not philanthropy

1 month ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

President William Ruto leads from the front when it comes to philanthropy, or that grotesque Kenyan version of it. Even when not personally present to dish out wads of cash, influential politicians and aides will be delivering huge amounts in his name. And of course his donations have to be the largest, followed by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, and then Cabinet ministers, apparently in order of the influence and budget of their respective dockets.
Ruto is king of early campaigns

1 month ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

“Any leader who is encouraging early electoral campaigns does not wish our country well. It is unpatriotic to put our country in a perpetual campaign mode.” Those words from the mouth of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki might have been aimed at his ousted predecessor Rigathi Gachagua, but should apply even more to President William Ruto. The ink had hardly dried on his taking the oath of office in 2022, and the President abdicated his core responsibilities to embark on premature electioneering.
Gachagua’s ground game: Delicate balancing act on the big stage

1 month ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

The unveiling on Thursday of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s new political party brought out the contradictions inherent in launching a movement fixated on capturing an ethnic or regional bloc, while crafting a national image.
Gachagua party will reveal whether he has outgrown Wamunyoro

1 month ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

It could be a defining political moment this week if former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua unveils his new political vehicle. That term is used here deliberately, because Kenya has no political parties in the classical sense. What we have is a collection of special-purpose vehicles that powerful ethnic chiefs form solely to gun for power or bargain for positions.
‘Blood Parliament’: We must push back against State clampdown

1 month ago | nation.africa | Macharia Gaitho

Content Sometime in the course of this week, let us find a date and time when public and private spaces in the republic, and beyond, will simultaneously tune into the BBC’s “Blood Parliament”. That would be the best way to send a powerful message to the government of President William Ruto and his clueless officials that this country can never go back to the dark ages.