Gachagua to visit Raila family in December

By Newsflash Writer

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has announced that he will visit the family of the late ODM leader Raila Odinga in Bondo during the first week of December, marking what could be one of the most symbolic political gestures since Raila’s passing.

Gachagua revealed his plans on Sunday night during a joint interview with Inooro TV and Wimwaro FM in Mbeere North Constituency, Embu County. He said the decision followed weeks of consultations with the Agikuyu Council of Elders and the Odinga family.

“I have been consulting with our elders and I am making some final preparations. I will visit Raila’s family in the first week of December. I have also been in talks with Raila’s sister, Ruth,” Gachagua said.

His announcement comes amid growing questions about his absence from key memorial events following Raila’s death. While his fellow principal in the United Opposition, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, visited the Odinga family on November 6, Gachagua has faced criticism for keeping away from both the national memorial service at Nyayo Stadium and the burial in Bondo.

Why Gachagua skipped the memorial events

Responding to the concerns, Gachagua said he deliberately stayed away after being alerted to what he termed a calculated plan to embarrass him publicly.

According to him, intelligence reports indicated that government operatives were plotting to have him booed to create the impression that the Luo community was rejecting him.

“I had prior intelligence that government operatives were planning to heckle me so as to create a narrative that there is a political schism between the Kikuyu and the Luo communities. I knew that this was a trap made by President William Ruto. I cleverly avoided it because members of the Luo community have been my friends for decades,” he said.

Gachagua added that his upcoming trip to Bondo is meant to honour Raila’s legacy and demonstrate goodwill between their political camps, despite past differences.

The former deputy president is in Mbeere North constituency to drum up support for Democratic Party (DP) candidate Newton Kariuki, popularly known as Karish. Kariuki is the United Opposition candidate in the upcoming November 27 by-election.

Gachagua told supporters that the Opposition must remain united ahead of the by-election, insisting that his visit to the Odinga family would also send a message of political reconciliation at a time he said the country needed healing.