Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been heavily criticised after missing an event attended by President William Ruto in his Nyeri home county.
On Sunday, September 15, Ruto attended a church service at the AIPCA Central West Archdiocese, and a seat that had been reserved for Gachagua remained unoccupied for the better part of the service.
Seemingly snubbing the president’s event, Gachagua attended a 100-year celebration at Baricho Catholic Parish in Kirinyaga.

Some Gachagua apologists, including Senator Karungo Thangwa, defended his move to skip the Nyeri event, saying the Kirinyaga celebration took longer than expected. He further claimed that Ruto was also supposed to attend the Kirinyaga event, insinuating the president snubbed his deputy too.
However, in the president’s schedule seen by TUKIO.co.ke, Baricho Catholic Church was not on President Ruto’s itinerary, and he opted to send Governor Anne Waiguru with his contribution.
In the schedule, the head of state and Gachagua were expected to be in Nyeri by noon, but the second in command did not make it.
Some political pundits questioned why the service in Kirinyaga allowed all politicians to speak, some of whom used the platform to criticise the president, which is against the church’s doctrines.
"Why were the speeches in Kirinyaga prolonged, despite the deputy president knowing that the president was expected in Nyeri by noon? Or was the Nyeri event considered less important than the one in Kirinyaga?" posed a concerned Ruto ally.

They also questioned how far Nyeri is from Kirinyaga that Gachagua could not make it to the president’s event.
Notably, during the church service in Kirinyaga, the president’s seat was not reserved, unlike in Nyeri where Gachagu’s seat was set aside for him. It is also reported that Gachagua’s security detail was already in Nyeri.
Elsewhere, Gachagua’s close allies claim the DP skipped the Nyeri function because of the presence of many Mt Kenya MPs who declared Interior CS Kithure Kindiki as the region’s kingpin.