Kenya’s opposition is trapped in a cycle of tribal witch-hunts and recycled leaders, Pan-Africanist Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba declared, in a searing attack that put former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at the centre of the storm.
Addressing a youth forum, Lumumba accused the opposition of parroting the same politics of division that have crippled Kenya for decades. His sharpest rebuke was reserved for Gachagua, who he said has weaponised ethnicity and turned Mt. Kenya into his personal fiefdom. “What is the opposition really about? These are the same individuals who were in government not so long ago. What change can they guarantee simply because they were removed from the ‘eating table’? Yet when good men and women come forward with ideas, the typical Kenyan still votes based on tribe,” Lumumba said.
Since his impeachment in 2024, Gachagua has cast himself as the region’s “shareholder-in-chief,” portraying his downfall as a betrayal of Kikuyu interests. His rallies in Murang’a and Machakos have doubled as tribunals, publicly naming and shaming Mt. Kenya leaders like Ndindi Nyoro and Alice Wahome, whom he accuses of selling out to President William Ruto.
Analysts warn that Gachagua’s witch-hunting is strangling the opposition, alienating regions beyond Central Kenya and fueling ethnic resentment. Political commentator Herman Manyora cautioned that the opposition’s chances in Western and Coast now risk collapse, with Gachagua’s divisive tactics overshadowing attempts at coalition-building.
Lumumba’s message was blunt: unless Kenyans, especially the youth, reject tribal politics and money-driven leadership, the 2027 polls will be reduced to “a tribal census masquerading as an election.”
