CS Mbadi claims Raila Odinga ruled out working with Rigathi Gachagua

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has claimed that the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga had publicly ruled out working with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, saying the veteran opposition leader had expressed reservations about entering into any political arrangement with him.

Speaking to the media, Mbadi said Raila had made his position clear during public rallies and in meetings with leaders who worked alongside him, insisting he could not cooperate with Gachagua because of what he described as his mindset.

“If there is one person that Raila has spoken about publicly, at least the one I can remember, before he died, that he could not shake hands with, compromise with, or enter into any alliance with, it is Rigathi Gachagua,” Mbadi said.

The Cabinet Secretary added that Raila had directly communicated his reservations to his political allies, whom he described as his lieutenants, saying the former Prime Minister had made it clear that he could not work with Gachagua.

“He told us a person I cannot work with. And he said it in public rallies and told us, as his lieutenant, that this person, we cannot work with him, with this kind of mindset,” Mbadi said.

Mbadi’s remarks centred on what he portrayed as Raila’s opposition to political leadership that he believed promoted division along ethnic lines. He questioned the attitude of leaders whom he accused of behaving as though Kenya belonged to particular communities.

“Is this the mindset of some of these people, who think the country just belongs to one or two tribes? It is sickening,” Mbadi said.

He also recalled an occasion when Raila appeared deeply emotional while addressing the issue in a meeting he attended, suggesting that the question of tribal divisions had been a source of concern for the former Prime Minister.

“Actually, Raila was almost at the point of shedding tears in one of the meetings I was in,” Mbadi said.

Raila, who died in October 2025, was a central figure in Kenyan politics for decades and built political alliances with leaders from different communities during his presidential campaigns and other political engagements.

Gachagua, who served as Deputy President under President William Ruto from 2022 until his impeachment in 2024, later emerged as a vocal critic of the government.