NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 30 \u2013 Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has dismissed claims that his political influence has faded following the United Opposition\u2019s defeat in the Mbeere North by-election.<\/p>\n
Speaking publicly for the first time since the mini-polls, Gachagua insisted the loss should not be used to measure his party\u2019s strength, arguing that DCP did not field a candidate in Mbeere North despite him leading campaigns there.<\/p>\n
Instead, he celebrated what he termed a strong performance in the three ward polls where DCP secured victories \u2014 Kariobangi North (Nairobi), Kisa East (Kakamega), and Narok Town (Narok).<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be bothered by what happened in Mbeere North. DCP didn\u2019t have a candidate there. We had candidates in Kariobangi North, Narok Town, and Kisa East \u2014 and we won,\u201d he told congregants during a Thanksgiving Service at PCEA Kariobangi North.<\/p>\n
Gachagua said his involvement in the Mbeere campaigns was merely support for the Democratic Party (DP) candidate and should not be interpreted as a personal or party defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cA seven-month-old party won three out of five seats. I only went to help DP in Mbeere North. Our focus is on DCP,\u201d he said, adding that the wins elsewhere prove the party\u2019s growing political footprint.<\/p>\n
The former Deputy President revealed that DCP is now strategizing for a full Nairobi takeover in 2027, buoyed by its Kariobangi North win.<\/p>\n
He claimed to have reached a strategic arrangement with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, giving DCP priority for key Nairobi seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cDCP is the party for Nairobi. We have agreed that the governor, senate and women representative seats will be taken by DCP,\u201d he announced.<\/p>\n
The party plans to field candidates in 16 of Nairobi\u2019s 17 constituencies, 75 out of 88 MCA wards and all three top county seats \u2014 governor, senator and woman rep.<\/p>\n
The Mbeere North seat fell vacant after former MP Geoffrey Ruku joined Cabinet as CS for Public Services and Human Capital Development.<\/p>\n
Opposition parties agreed to field a joint candidate \u2014 Newton Karish of DP \u2014<\/strong> with Gachagua leading the charge. However, Karish lost to UDA\u2019s Leonard Muthende, who secured 15,802 votes against Karish\u2019s 15,308, marking a narrow defeat in what had been billed as a Mt Kenya East battleground.<\/p>\n Despite internal criticism and external speculation, Gachagua projects confidence and momentum, positioning DCP as a rising challenger in the 2027 political landscape \u2014 with Nairobi now firmly in his crosshairs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 30 \u2013 Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has dismissed claims that his political influence has faded following the United Opposition\u2019s defeat in the Mbeere North by-election. Speaking publicly for the first time since the mini-polls, Gachagua insisted the loss should not be used to measure his party\u2019s strength, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}