Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi has openly accused former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of pushing the United Opposition towards division. He says Gachagua's political style could cost the Wantam movement the State House prize it is chasing.
In a strongly worded statement from the Office of the Party Leader, Mr Muturi said Mr Gachagua must stop what he called "political bullying, double-speak and self-sabotage". The statement was signed by Mr Muturi as DP Party Leader and shared with the media.
Mr Muturi began by saying that no Kenyan President has ever been made by one community alone. According to him, the presidency is won through national consensus, strategic alliances and the ability to bring together Kenyans from different ethnic and regional backgrounds. He said Mr Gachagua must understand this "fundamental truth" if the opposition is serious about unseating President William Ruto in 2027.
The DP boss then put the United Opposition "on notice". He said the political path Mr Gachagua is taking raises serious questions about his commitment to the collective presidential ambition of the Wantam movement. In his view, the former DP's repeated attempts to weaken established cooperation, together with his push for tripartite political arrangements, risk giving the impression that he is preparing for bargaining after the election instead of focusing on State House.
"Is the objective to win the presidency or to control MPs, legislators and devolved units while sacrificing the bigger national ambition?" Mr Muturi asked. It was one of the sharpest lines in the statement, and it goes straight to the heart of the doubts now being raised within the opposition.
Mr Muturi said that those who have spent years in the trenches of Kenyan politics know that building a winning national coalition needs compromise, maturity and strategic thinking. A tripartite arrangement, he warned, is not a magic formula for State House. He added that breaking up an opposition that badly needs unity raises more questions about the direction being followed.
He also made it clear that nobody owns the United Opposition. "No individual owns the United Opposition, and no community has a monopoly on Kenya's presidency," he said. Political partnerships, he added, must be built on mutual respect and not on ultimatums, bullying or supremacy contests.
The statement then took a more personal turn. Mr Muturi reminded Mr Gachagua of his own family's political history. He recalled that the former DP's late brother, Nderitu Gachagua, won the gubernatorial contest against TNA, the political vehicle that produced President Uhuru Kenyatta, even though GNU was backing Uhuru. According to Mr Muturi, that history shows that political alliances are complex and that no political formation belongs to one individual.
On the idea that three separate political formations can automatically deliver a Wantam presidency, Mr Muturi was blunt. He called the assumption "deeply questionable". Kenya's presidential politics, he said, cannot be reduced to ethnic arithmetic, regional strongholds or individual bargaining power. He warned that such fragmentation risks killing the hopes of millions of Kenyans who want political change.
He said the United Opposition now has a choice to make. It must decide whether it is building one national movement with a shared presidential ambition, or creating separate political kingdoms whose leaders will negotiate their own interests after the elections.
Mr Muturi also used the statement to push back on how serious the Komboa Kenya agenda is. "Komboa Kenya is not child's play," he said. He described it as a national undertaking that demands sacrifice, discipline, strategic thinking and real commitment to a common objective. No individual ambition, he said, should be allowed to overshadow the hopes of millions of Kenyans.
Even with the tough language, the DP leader left the door open for talks. He said the Democratic Party remains ready and willing to engage with all those who are genuinely committed to meaningful dialogue and constructive solutions. But he drew a line, saying his party will not capitulate to mischief, intimidation or any attempt to undermine its principles.
He ended the statement with a message that sums up his position: "Kenya is bigger than any one politician. State House is the national prize. Unity must not be sacrificed at the altar of individual political survival."
Not the first time
The statement did not come out of nowhere. Tension between Mr Gachagua and some smaller opposition parties has been building for some time. On August 4, 2026, Mr Muturi appeared in Nairobi with PNU leader Peter Munya and Mbus Party leader Lenny Kivuti to address the media. The three former Cabinet Secretaries accused Mr Gachagua of belittling partner parties and weakening efforts to build a united opposition ahead of the 2027 General Election. Mr Muturi also accused the DCP leader of being hypocritical for welcoming UDA leaders while rebuking other parties in the opposition.
The United Opposition has been trying to present a united face for many months. The grouping is made up of Mr Gachagua's DCP, Kalonzo Musyoka's Wiper, Martha Karua's PLP, Eugene Wamalwa's DAP-K, Mr Muturi's Democratic Party and the Jubilee Party. The "Wantam" slogan, which means "one term", has become the common rallying call, aimed at stopping President Ruto from getting a second term.
Mr Gachagua's camp has its own view on how the coalition should work. Speaking in Murang'a earlier this year, he said that if the formula favours Mt Kenya, the region will back any leader from the United Opposition. His supporters argue that the movement is driven by the people and not by individual leaders, and that Wantam itself is a clear enough agenda.
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