Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has dismissed claims that his Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) has endorsed Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna for the 2027 presidential race, saying his deputy Cleophas Malala was expressing a personal opinion.
Gachagua said Malala had been lobbying him and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to back Sifuna, but insisted that no agreement had been reached to make the Nairobi senator the opposition’s joint candidate.
“First and foremost, the deputy party leader Cleophas Malala is not the spokesman of DCP. The spokesman of the DCP is the secretary general or the party leader. So, that is not the party position. That is his personal opinion and he is allowed, by the way,” Gachagua said in a television interview on Wednesday.
The clarification came after Malala claimed that DCP had settled on Sifuna as its preferred candidate and was seeking Kalonzo’s support, a declaration that threatened to complicate ongoing talks among opposition leaders over who should challenge President William Ruto.
Gachagua acknowledged that Malala was trying to convince him to support the senator but said the process of choosing a presidential candidate should involve persuasion rather than unilateral declarations.
“He would want to persuade Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka and persuade me to support Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. It is within his right. By the way, there is nothing wrong,” he said.
Gachagua added that Malala had not given up on his campaign for Sifuna.
“In fact, he has tried to persuade me. That is true. I give it to him. He has tried to persuade me. He is still persuading me,” he said.
The DCP leader also suggested that Malala’s support for Sifuna was partly informed by the political mood in Western Kenya, where the senator enjoys support among some leaders and activists.
“When he is speaking in Western, he is speaking what the people of Western would want to hear, and he is a good politician. So, the people of Western Kenya naturally would want Sifuna to be the flag bearer,” Gachagua said.
He compared Malala’s approach to that of Ruto, suggesting that politicians sometimes tailor their messages to appeal to particular audiences.
“He’s just being a smaller version of William Ruto,” Gachagua said, explaining why he believed Malala was appealing to voters in the region.
The remarks expose the competing calculations within the opposition as leaders seek to build a common front ahead of the August 2027 election. While Sifuna has emerged as a prominent figure in the opposition’s mobilisation, Kalonzo, Gachagua and other leaders are also part of discussions over the presidential ticket.
Gachagua said the answer was not to shut down lobbying but to allow each leader to make a case for their preferred candidate.
“Sifuna himself should persuade Kalonzo. Kalonzo should persuade Sifuna and everybody should persuade each other. And all of us, people can lobby for you,” he said.
The disagreement follows a meeting between Gachagua and Sifuna at the former Deputy President’s Wamunyoro residence in Nyeri County on October 20. The meeting fuelled speculation that the two politicians, who were in opposing camps during Gachagua’s impeachment in 2024, could work together in the next election.
Gachagua has since explained that he confronted Sifuna over the senator’s role in the impeachment but accepted his explanation that ODM was acting in its political interests at the time.
“I looked him straight in the face, and I asked him, ‘Eh, you participated in my removal from office. Now that we want to work together, how do you feel?’” Gachagua recounted.
According to Gachagua, Sifuna told him that ODM and Gachagua were political opponents when the impeachment took place.
“He told me, ‘Riggy G, if you were in our shoes, you would have done the same,’” Gachagua said.
The former Deputy President said the explanation helped him separate political rivalry from personal betrayal.
“In my community, a betrayal by an outsider is not betrayal,” he said, adding that he and Sifuna had not belonged to the same political camp.
“One, Sifuna and I were not in the same camp. He did not vote for me. So how does he betray me? We were opponents, okay?” Gachagua said.
He also maintained that his biggest grievance was with former allies who supported his removal from office, rather than politicians who had opposed him from the beginning.
“That is why I must embrace everybody, including those who removed me from office, because I need everybody. We need each other, and we have a job to do,” he said.
Gachagua’s position reflects the delicate balance facing opposition leaders: they must work with politicians who were once their rivals while negotiating a presidential ticket that could accommodate competing ambitions.
Malala’s declaration has also met resistance from Kalonzo’s camp. On October 25, Wiper spokesperson Ndegwa Njiru dismissed claims that the party had agreed to meet DCP to endorse Sifuna, warning against statements that could undermine opposition unity.
The opposition has yet to announce a joint presidential candidate, leaving the field open as leaders continue consultations.
Gachagua said Malala was free to campaign for Sifuna but should distinguish between his own preference and an official party decision.
