Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen now says former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s claims that the country risks a repeat of the 2007 elections are enough to bar him from holding any public office.
Gachagua, who was impeached in October 2024 and therefore unable to run for public office, is battling the removal from office in the High Court, seeking to overturn his impeachment by the Senate.
Until he exhausts all the options of appeal, Gachagua is eligible to hold a public office unless the courts affirm his impeachment. Gachagua has said that he will run for president in the 2027 polls.
Gachagua, speaking during an interview on Obinna TV on Friday, May 16, 2025, warned that mismanagement of the 2027 elections could result in violence worse than that experienced in 2007/08.
"With the mood in the country, if the IEBC tries to mess with the elections, there will be no country here. I want to tell you, 2007 will look like a Christmas party," he said during the interview.
Murkomen noted that Gachagua’s utterances were dangerous and irresponsible.
“Those remarks alone are enough to bar that person from holding any public office,’’ Murkomen said during a funeral in Matisi, Kitale.
“Forget
about the impeachment….because many people lost their loved ones in the
2007/2008 post-election violence. Some people have never recovered, and somebody
is promising that it will escalate in the next elections.’’
Murkomen continued by calling out Gachagua that he should not make his ouster from office a matter of national interest and that people will not experience a repeat of the 2007 post-election chaos.
“Don’t harm the entire country because of your political problems. People will not die for you to occupy office,” he said
Murkomen urged political leaders to refrain from making remarks that could plunge the country into a crisis.
“If you are a politician and you are defeated and lose your seat, don’t make it a national crisis. That is a personal crisis,’’ Murkomen said, urging political leaders to take responsibility for their actions.
He, however, confirmed that he is in talks with the Inspector General of police as investigations continue over recent chaos witnessed during the launch of Gachagua’s party DCP.
The CS is among leaders who have condemned the statement by the former Deputy President, terming it reckless, with some calling for his arrest.
