By Ochieng’ Kanyadudi
When Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi gave a warning shot about the impeachment of the Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua should have taken notice. He should have remembered that he attended a funds drive earlier and castigated Sudi.
Gachagua’s beef with Rift Valley leaders close to the President was that they did not treat him with the requisite respect.
He considered them cosier to Central Kenya leaders as opposed to Gachagua’s supremacy. The DP told off Sudi, claiming that their ill-conceived machinations would fall flat.
The following day, Sudi responded in kind. He reminded Gachagua that he was Deputy President of Kenya and not Central Kenya.
He further told him that he was the principal assistant to the President and not the Kikuyu supreme leader. What baffled many observers was why the Deputy President had forgotten how some operatives relate with the ultimate power.
The relationship between President William Ruto, Oscar Sudi and Faruk Kibet goes beyond politics. Any keen leader should take their pronouncements seriously.
Having been a student leader during President Daniel Moi’s tenure, Gachagua always harboured ambition for power of the high political offices.
His decision to work in the now-defunct provincial administration soon after his graduation from the university was not accidental. When leaders from Central drifted away from Kanu during the early multiparty days, he cast his lot with Moi.
Claims of some of the hatchet work he undertook for the Moi presidency abound, but with scanty facts. It is from within the regime that he knew he would wield power and make wealth. This further explains why he again chose to support Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid in 2002.
All indications were that his county man, Mwai Kibaki, would romp home. However, Kibaki was the opposition candidate and required immense investment psychologically and materially.
On the other hand, Uhuru was the government candidate and offered opportunity for wheeler dealing and good fortunes. Gachagua became Uhuru’s personal assistant on the government payroll.
He would later resign upon the defeat of Uhuru and concentrate on helping to manage his family’s vast business empire. But his sights continued to be trained on bigger things. He believed he was cut out for more serious national responsibilities.
During the second and final term of President Kibaki, he utilised his position under Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru to maximum advantage. The Finance docket was under Uhuru and many infrastructural projects were initiated.
The popular economic stimulus programmes were meant to spur growth after the devastating post-election violence. The stimulus programmes were the cash cow of the day. For his grand vision, Gachagua needed vast resources.
He also required grassroots networks. He was aware that many Kenyan national leaders have risen by building solid and loyal local political networks.
The 2013 elections under the new Constitution provided an opportunity to succeed Kibaki without confronting the grand and suave old man. Gachagua, together with others of the same opinion, fronted his brother for the Nyeri governorship post.
He became the true power behind the throne of James Nderitu Gachagua. This lofty position helped him accumulate more wealth and built more political and business networks.
With substantial wealth at his disposable, he began to cut links with Uhuru. His long-term objective of reigning as Kenya’s President lay more with Ruto than Uhuru.
As an MP from Central Kenya, he took advantage of the fallout between Uhuru and Ruto to establish his political niche.
He led the rebellion from Mount Kenya against their most illustrious son, who at the time was serving as President.
In his zeal, he became quite abrasive and deployed unsavory language against Uhuru and his preferred candidate Raila Odinga.
Having firmly excluded Uhuru from his native community, he had to find his place of influence around Ruto. This created a vicious competition among the key political players of Central Kenya.
That explains why the last day at the Ruto’s Deputy President residence in Karen was high-octane drama. Gachagua pulled a surprise to beat the three front-runners, comprising Prof Kithure Kindiki, Ndindi Nyoro and Kimani Ichungwa, for the coveted seat of Deputy President.
Many leaders from Central Kenya appeared unpleased with the outcome but chose to focus more on the main objective of winning the presidency under Ruto.
After the successful impeachment on Tuesday by the National Assembly, parallels have been drawn with the Josephat Karanja’s case of 1989.
Karanja was considered a man in haste and Gachagua likewise. However, there is a difference in intent and process of the two. Karanja’s case was an afterthought.
He tried his hands at politics after retirement from the ivory tower of university administration. His opportunity arose through the tribulations of Andrew Ngumba, who fled the country in 1985.
Some nondescript councilor was detailed to entice the former University of Nairobi vice chancellor to shift base from Githunguri to Mathare. He fell for Moi’s scheme to remove Kibaki as his vice. Later, after the infamous mlolongo elections, he was appointed Vice President.
Two incidents of coincidence happened to cast Karanja aside. He completely misunderstood the role of the post of vice presidency.
Secondly, he did not appreciate that he was a stop-gap measure to remove Kibaki. Karanja’s presidential ambitions thus appear to have been more of circumstances of occurrences and happenstance than a well-organised political journey.
On the other hand, Gachagua had long established that he wanted to be the President of Kenya. He has used every opportunity from his early stages of political life to build on his dream. He kept his focus on his lifelong goal.
His undoing was not being pragmatic in his quest. He had the objective but lacked in strategy and tact. While strategy is the action plan that takes you where you want to go, tactics are the individual steps and actions that will get you there.
In a business context, this means the specific actions teams take to implement the initiatives outlined in the strategy. Tactics are dynamic, action-specific and responsive to environmental conditions. Strategy is the long road one travels to achieve the objectival goal.
Gachagua did not lay out the plan in the long-term premise but instead relied on short-term gains. When he gained less in his endeavour, he maintained a mien of humility.
When his fortunes rose and the bounty swelled, he exposed his soft underbelly. He became politically rough on his colleagues and erstwhile allies.
He treated them with disdain and communicated with least care to the sensitivities of his recipients. He should have designed strategies that would have navigated the volatile Kenyan political terrain.
It was even more worrying that he did not demonstrate tact as a seasoned political operative. With tact, he should have listened to the sound of the river as communicated by Sudi and Kibet.
He became Deputy President without any national political network or charismatic appeal. Instead of working on his national image, he became antagonistic with his public pronouncements and personal interests. He also had not consolidated his support within his local base of Central Kenya.
Yet he projected the image of the sole benefactor and protector of the region’s interests.
The wounds of the Karen betrayal had not healed before he sought the backing of the same leaders. Instead of using the numerical strength of the Gema to secure his place in Ruto’s court, he did the unthinkable.
He threatened the holder of the knife and yam with the same strength. His recklessness made him behave as co-President to Ruto when he was expected to be his principal assistant.
He should have concealed his intentions and made himself indispensable before making an overt move. Sadly, he had not internalised Robert Green’s 48 Laws of Power and Machiavelli’s Prince.
He expected to behave as Ruto the Deputy President and get away with it. However, he lacked the resilience and tenacity of Ruto.
The President had spent all his life in the trenches of the treacherous Kenyan politics. Gachagua spent the better part of his life in government offices and business corridors. Ruto as Deputy President had a boss who was largely hands-off.
The current President is a workaholic and sensitive to the slightest sign of insubordination. Gachagua, therefore, needed more tact in managing expectations and fears of his allies and competitors as he nurtured his ultimate goal.
Finally, once the impeachment motion was tabled, the Deputy President should have chosen a different path to deal with the matter.
The impeachment is a political not a legal process. Once they decide on a matter, politicians will always have their way. Gachagua surprisingly chose a path that took further away from his coveted prize and nailed his coffin.
Again, this demonstrated lack of appropriate strategy and tact on his part together with his handlers. Every politician requires to survive every battle so as to fight again. Any loss in the battlefield may lead to being vanquished. His case is now an apt historical case study.
Ochieng’ Kanyadudi is a political and public policy analyst