Antonellah Kakuko, the ruling UDA Party’s Head of Digital Communication, now says that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua left the country out of fear after President William Ruto vowed to crack the whip against demonstrators and alleged orchestrators involved in the looting and destruction of property.

A visibly angry President Ruto on Wednesday, July 10 issued a forceful warning in the wake of recent waves of violent anti-government protests, directing police officers to immobilise demonstrators involved in criminalities by shooting them in the legs.

Speaking at Kilimani Police Station during the inspection of a housing project for police officers, Ruto claimed that a group of politicians were plotting to overthrow his government, by orchestrating chaos and fueling violence across the country.

On the same day of President Ruto’s stern remarks, Gachagua left the country for the United States, daring the government to arrest him at the airport.

“Tonight, I will be travelling to the US to talk to Kenyans in the diaspora and the international community about the state of the nation… I have been threatened by people close to William Ruto who called some of my people today and said that they will want to stop me from leaving the country,” Gachagua claimed.

Gachagua added: “I have no problem. If you want to come and arrest me at the airport, as you were threatening us, you can go ahead. You cannot sell fear to us, and even if you sold it to us, we cannot buy it.”

But according to Kakuko, the said opposition politicians — led by Gachagua — will not succeed in their alleged plan to dislodge President Ruto from the country’s highest office using unconstitutional means. She insists that Kenya is a democratic country, and any change of guard must come from the ballot, with Kenyans having the final say by casting their votes.

“President Ruto just said ‘enough is enough’ today and [Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua] is already running to America just like [Fred] Matiang’i and [George] Kinoti did. [They] can not continue causing trouble and mayhem in our country under our watch,” kakuko wrote on her social media pages on Wednesday, July 9. “Kenya is our motherland and we won’t allow any evil to prevail.”

‘Ruto will weather the storm’

In any case, Kakuko remains upbeat that a resilient President Ruto will weather the storm of the current political suituation in the country, just like he has done previously in his political endevours.

“The same William Ruto who ended the belief that the deputy president position was jinxed and that one could not succeed the president. The same Ruto who broke that fake belief that you needed to come from a big family to be a president. The same Ruto who proved that Kenyans can vote against tribal lines [in 2022]. The same Ruto who crushed the belief that it’s [im]possible to win a presidential election fairly against all negative mobilisations. It is the same Ruto who will end the politics of anarchy and entitlement in this country,” Kakuko told TV47 Digital.