The political fortunes of impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua suffered another blow today after his Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) appeared to withdraw its candidate from the Malava parliamentary race — a move seen as both humiliating and revealing of the party’s crumbling ambitions beyond Mt Kenya.
DCP’s Edgar Busiega Mwanga, unveiled with fanfare just two months ago, was withdrawn in favour of Seth Panyako, the candidate fronted by Eugene Wamalwa’s Democratic Action Party–Kenya (DAP–K). The announcement was made earlier today by DCP’s Deputy Party Leader, as Gachagua himself conspicuously stayed away — a silence party insiders privately described as “strategic embarrassment.”
The deputy leader read a brief statement pledging “unity of purpose within the Opposition,” but questions swirled over whether the withdrawal was forced by DAP–K’s threat to expel alliance partners who fielded parallel candidates.
For Gachagua, this episode adds to a growing list of political embarrassments: from DCP’s flopped Kasarani launch, to the cancelled US fundraising tour, to repeated retreats from non–Mt Kenya contests.
Analysts now say Gachagua’s dream of leading a “national movement” has collapsed into a regional illusion — a project confined to rhetoric and reaction.
“Presidential bid? That’s fantasy,” scoffed a Western voter. “Rigathi’s fighting shadows of his own making.”
With Jubilee’s resurgence under Fred Matiang’i and Uhuru Kenyatta, Gachagua’s DCP is fast losing oxygen — a party adrift, led by a man hiding from his own headlines.
