Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) is fast unraveling, its bold talk of being a national alternative giving way to the image of an empty shell riddled with wrangles, withdrawals, and whispers of extortion.
The latest blow came today when Furaha Chengo Ngumbao, DCP’s parliamentary hopeful for the Magarini by-election, resigned in protest.
In a stinging letter, Ngumbao—also a member of the party’s National Executive Committee—accused the leadership of frustrating aspirants and abandoning them to fend for themselves, citing poor communication and lack of support from the National Elections Board and Secretary-General.
The exit has deepened the perception that DCP is less about building a credible political movement and more about extracting money from hopefuls with vague promises of backing. “It’s like an empty shell—big promises, no delivery,” one insider lamented.
This collapse in Magarini, a coastal constituency that had given Gachagua an opening to test his party’s reach, now threatens to turn the November 27 by-election into a referendum on his shaky post-impeachment comeback.
The party has already pulled out of Mbeere North and two ward races in Machakos and Bungoma, while in Mandera’s Banisa Constituency, its candidate defected to UDA.
DCP’s troubles trace back to its chaotic rollout: a May launch marred by violence at its Nairobi headquarters, followed by a controversial U.S. fundraising tour where Gachagua alienated diaspora supporters with incendiary remarks.
Critics now say the party is caught between overpromising and underdelivering, with no clear vision beyond Gachagua’s personal survival.
Still, the former deputy president remains defiant. “We’re building a real alternative—seven million strong by 2027,” he told a rally in Nyeri last week. But as defections mount and internal cracks widen, analysts warn DCP is fast losing credibility as a serious political force.
With the IEBC nomination deadline looming, the question is whether Gachagua can salvage Magarini—or whether the constituency will confirm what many already believe: DCP is a shell of a party, sinking under the weight of its own contradictions.
