Rigathi Gachagua, leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), has sharply criticized President William Ruto's State of the Nation address. He dismissed Ruto's claims of steering Kenya toward Singapore's status as nonsense that is actually pushing the country backward. Instead, he warned that Kenya could end up like Somalia by the next election.
Rigathi Gachagua criticized President William Ruto's State of the Nation address, calling it empty words lacking real direction. Directly attacking the President, he claimed the assertion of achieving Singapore's status was nonsense. “You say you are making us like Singapore, but in truth you are pushing us back to 1963, into poverty, disease and oppression. By the next election we will be Somalia,” he said angrily.
He accused Ruto's government of being rife with corruption, rights oppression and lack of accountability. He dismissed the plan to invest Sh5 trillion in education, production, electricity and road construction as a cover for planned corruption. On the housing levy tax, he said the President should announce its immediate abolition and refund workers' money. “Singapore has an average salary of Sh700,000 per month. Ours is Sh70,000 and then you tax us more than half of the salary itself. That is not the direction to make us like Singapore,” he added.
Gachagua said the Big Four Agenda of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vision 2030 were dismantled to open avenues for corruption. On the Hustler Fund, he called it small loans that increase debt for the poor rather than ending poverty. He labeled the Social Health Authority (SHA) a big scam benefiting a few, with 27 million registered Kenyans still unaware of its benefits. He also claimed the 76,000 teacher jobs were not allocated transparently, with some letters claimed by loyal State House politicians.
Criticizing infrastructure plans, he questioned the funding source for building 2,500 km of dual carriage roads, 28,000 km of tarmac and extending the SGR railway to Kisumu and Malaba. “The little funds we collect go to buying voters,” he said. He stressed that Kenya needs strong institutions, budget integrity and equality, not political lies. He also claimed Ruto sends emissaries to reconcile with him, but he refused, saying he now has strength and wealth and will not go back.