Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua has officially resigned from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party, saying the party’s manifesto was a lie and no nation can be built on a litany of lies.
In a statement on Monday May 12, 2025, Gachagua noted that he has resigned with immediate effect.
“By a copy of this letter, you are notified that I have officially resigned from the UDA Party with immediate effect.
“I have made this decision in knowledge of the ideals of the Party we believed in and so were millions of Kenyans, but now has turned out as the most dangerous political moment for the people and the Republic of Kenya in retrogressive philosophy of unfit class to govern our Nation,” read part of Gachagua’s statement.
The former DP added that UDA has exhausted and wasted a Kenyan moment to take off economically, socially and politically.
“It will be recalled that, while affirming the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto, our Presidential Candidate then (in 2022), said, ‘It is my firm conviction that the unity, stability and prosperity of our country lies not in the greatness of men but in the strength of our institutions. Our United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party is founded on the ideology that the national aspirations-justice, peace, freedom, prosperity that we pray for, as we sing our national anthem, is a covenant that binds us to political inclusion and economic empowerment of all Kenyans.’ As a party, and millions of Kenyans, we believed and trusted him and this statement. It was a lie. No nation can be built on a litany of lies,” Gachagua noted in a statement posted on his X account.
At the same time, the former DP accused the Kenya Kwanza government of failing to implement the Bottom Up Economic Transformation agenda.
“We promised to lift Kenyans from the bottom of the economic pyramid; this was an inclusive economic model that millions of Kenyans believed in. We signed economic charters with all the counties and various professional bodies. It is, however, disturbing that the Kenya Kwanza rogue Administration is still searching for these charters in their dusty shelves,” he stated.
In addition, Gachagua criticized the Hustler Fund, saying that it has failed to lift Kenyans out of poverty.
“The dream for the Hustler Fund as it were, was to lift Kenyans at the bottom of the economic pyramid. What business can Kshs. 500 start sustainably?”
On Agricultural transformation, the former DP explained that the government has failed to fulfil its promise of producing enough food for all Kenyans.
Gachagua also criticised President Ruto’s affordable housing project, terming it as an individual business venture and a sharp sword on the payslip of the Kenyan worker.
“Under this helpless regime of UDA/ Kenya Kwanza, the healthcare system has collapsed. The failed healthcare system under the SHA ideology is a business venture, under few bureaucrats in the Kenya Kwanza Administration. Yet we had promised the people of Kenya, as a party, we would have safe and affordable healthcare by December of 2022,” he noted.
“UDA had promised to deploy a credible macroeconomic framework and growth strategy to strengthen external creditworthiness, enabling the government to borrow cheaply externally and end crowding out of the private sector from the domestic credit market, we have become a begging nation, borrowing recklessly for budgeted corruption. No country can progress under the leadership of such a Political Party hidden and mischievous philosophy,” he added.
According to Gachagua, the initial plan was to reduce the cost of calls and data to allow wananchi, and especially the youth, to use online platforms for entertainment, information and business.
“We had committed to turn around the sports regime in Kenya since, the brand value that Kenyans participating and excelling in on the international sports arena is incalculable. But far too often, the Government lets down our sports people, in terms of facilitation and provision of adequate resources,” read part of the statement.
“We committed as a Coalition/Party to address the inequities in our education system so as to level the playing field for all children irrespective of their background. We further commit to equitable universal basic education defined as 12 years of schooling. However, the UDA party is delivering a failed CBC curriculum, an incoherent and corrupt university funding model. No Kenyan child or parent is safe under this planned failure. Why is the future of our nation being tested through a bad system from the start?,” he added in a statement.
