Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua sensationally claimed that President William Ruto had promised the running mate position to a little-known MP from Kirinyaga County.
Speaking during an interview on Wednesday, May 20, Gachagua claimed that Ruto had promised Ndia MP George Macharia Kariuki and seven others the position.
He alleged that Ruto was struggling to pick a running mate who would bring him in votes and had juggled between leaders in Mount Kenya and Luo Nyanza.
Gachagua claimed that any politician would find it difficult to trust his former boss, given that he was impeached after delivering votes to him.
"He has a serious trust deficit, and that is why he has promised the running mate position to seven people: Anne Waiguru, Gladys Wanga, Oburu Oginga, John Mbadi, Kithure Kindiki, another fellow called G. K. Kariuki, the MP for Ndia. He has promised everybody," he stated.
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The DCP Leader added that the Head of State was uncertain about the Luo Nyanza vote because he allegedly discovered that he could not 'inherit' the late Raila Odinga's supporters.
"He had hoped he could inherit what Raila Odinga had, but you know, those ODM people were not followers of the party; they were Raila followers. Now he is gone, and loyalty is not transferable. The Luo nation's loyalty to Raila Odinga cannot be transferred to Oburu Oginga, and for him to transfer to William Ruto will be very difficult. It is a very tall order," he added.
Gachagua explained that the main role of a running mate was to bring in lampsum votes, preferably more than 2 million voters.
He revealed that if the United Opposition settled on him, he would use the aforementioned criteria to pick his preferred running mate.
The ex-DP agreed with Jubilee presidential aspirant Fred Matiang'i on the use of a scientific formula to pick the flagbearer of the United Opposition. However, he stated that the only science in politics was numbers.
"He is right. The science of politics is numbers. For you to become president, you must mobilise voters to come and vote for you."
"When you look for a running mate, numbers will play a huge role in that decision because you must add what you control and what others control, and put it together to get 50% plus one," he stated.
Meanwhile, Gachagua denied any possibility of entering into a handshake deal with the Commander in Chief.
He explained that Kenyans would never forgive him and added that the only way to keep the country standing is to have a strong opposition to keep the government in check.
The former DP further claimed that the current United Opposition was doing a better job than the late Raila Odinga, because they had more strength and better access to intel.
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