By the time the Senate bells began tolling for the impeachment trial of Rigathi Gachagua in October 2024, the walls had already started closing in.
Allies were retreating. Phones were going unanswered. The political machine that had carried him to power beside President William Ruto was now grinding toward his destruction with cold precision.
In the corridors of Parliament, whispers spread faster than official statements: the numbers were gone, the dealmakers had moved, and the deputy president was fighting for survival almost alone.
Months later, Nyandarua Senator John Methu has revealed one of the most dramatic final acts before that historic fall.
In an emotional and politically explosive account, Methu revealed that, at the height of the impeachment storm, he, Gachagua and a “Luo female senator”, widely believed to be nominated Senator Crystal Asige, secretly sought an audience with the late ODM leader and opposition titan Raila Odinga, hoping he could save the embattled deputy president from political execution.
The meeting, Methu suggests, carried the desperation of men clutching at the last available lifeline.
Kenya’s political climate at the time was feverish. The anti-finance bill Gen Z protests had shaken government foundations.
Ruto had already moved toward a broad-based arrangement with Raila’s ODM allies after weeks of deadly unrest.
Inside Kenya Kwanza, relations between Ruto and Gachagua had deteriorated publicly and viciously.
Allies of the president accused Gachagua of tribal politics, insubordination and undermining government authority.
By early October, impeachment papers had landed in Parliament with stunning force. More than 280 MPs eventually voted to impeach Gachagua in the National Assembly.
Yet behind the televised speeches and constitutional arguments, another battle was unfolding in hushed rooms and private calls.
Looking for political rescue
Methu now says the trio approached Raila seeking protection, pleading for him to restrain ODM senators and deploy his considerable influence inside the Senate to halt what Methu described as “the vicious aggression” orchestrated against Gachagua.
According to Methu, Raila appeared receptive.
He says the ODM leader even telephoned a senior opposition senator within the minority leadership, signalling that support could be mobilised.
For a brief moment, hope flickered.
One can almost imagine the mood after that meeting: exhausted men walking out into Nairobi’s evening traffic, believing the tide might yet turn; believing, perhaps, that political rivalry could yield to tactical necessity; believing that Raila – himself long familiar with betrayal, state pressure and political isolation – might see in Gachagua a fellow casualty of power.
But politics, especially Kenyan politics, rarely rewards innocence.
Methu says that when he later arrived at the Senate chambers and sought reassurance from then Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo, he was met not with confidence but with pity.
“The gazelle ran to a leopard”
“Methu, unfortunately the gazelle ran to a leopard to seek help,” Madzayo reportedly told him.
Then came the line that now hangs heavily over Kenya’s political discourse.
According to Methu, Madzayo disclosed that after the meeting, Raila allegedly changed position entirely, saying the Mt Kenya region had denied him the presidency three times and that revenge still lingered.
“Weka yeye kamba,” Methu quoted him as saying; loosely translated, “Finish him.”
Raila, who passed away in October 2025, is unable to confirm the remarks.
But the revelation adds an extraordinary layer to an impeachment already soaked in intrigue, shifting loyalties and raw political vengeance.
The Senate trial itself unfolded like national theatre under storm clouds.
Inside the chamber, senators debated deep into the night as television cameras broadcast every exchange across the country.
Gachagua denied all 11 charges against him, insisting he was the victim of a calculated political lynching.
Then came the dramatic collapse.
On the decisive day, Gachagua was rushed to hospital with chest pains, his lawyers pleading for adjournment as senators prepared to vote on his political fate. The request failed.
READ ALSO: Tanzanian Activist Mange Kimambi Asks Kenyans to Reject Ruto in 2027
Hours later, the Senate voted to uphold five charges. Making Gachagua the first deputy president in Kenya’s history to be impeached from office.
Outside Parliament, Nairobi wore the strange silence that follows political violence carried out constitutionally.
Mt Kenya leaders splintered. Some disappeared from public view.
Others quickly recalibrated around the new order as Kithure Kindiki emerged as Gachagua’s replacement.
PAY ATTENTION: Reach us at info@gotta.news.
