Gachagua unveils 8-point plan to end protests, slams Ruto over housing levy, police brutality

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has outlined eight key proposals he believes could address the ongoing political tensions and economic frustrations in the country, urging President William Ruto to stop lashing out at Kenyans and instead implement practical solutions.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, hours after President Ruto expressed frustration over rising hostility from the public and political leaders, Gachagua said the solution lies in policy changes, not anger.

Gachagua’s proposals include scrapping the controversial housing levy, ending police brutality and abductions, disbanding a secret 101-member police unit allegedly linked to extrajudicial killings, and delivering on job creation promises made to the youth.

He also urged the government to empower the middle class, saying they play a key role in creating employment opportunities for young people.

“I have seen Mr Ruto quavering and wailing in uncontrollable anger. Mr Ruto, these are the solutions to your problems: abolish the housing levy and give dignity to the payslip, stop killing and profiling the young people, listen to them, stop abductions and extrajudicial killings, abolish the 101-killer squad, give the hustlers the jobs you promised them, stop police brutality, stop abductions and illegal detentions, and get hustlers from the bottom of the economic pyramid,” Gachagua said.

Stop being angry

He urged the President to restrain himself and heed the concerns being raised across the country.

“Mr Ruto, I want with a lot of humility to advise you to stop being angry. That will not help you. You need to know what you need to do. The people of Kenya are more angry than you are,” Gachagua said.

Earlier in the day, President Ruto, while launching an affordable housing project in Kilimani, Nairobi, had lamented the growing animosity toward his government and questioned why his administration was facing greater resistance than his predecessors.

Ruto expressed frustration over what he termed personal insults and arrogance directed at him.

Undelivered promises

In response, Gachagua said the President was facing public outrage not because of tribal politics, but due to rising costs, over-taxation, and state-sponsored violence. He accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of burdening citizens and failing to deliver on its promises.

“If you want to be calm, please abolish the housing levy and give dignity to the pay slips, restore the capacity of the middle class. The middle class will provide jobs to these young people,” he said.

He reminded Ruto of his pre-election pledges to empower ordinary citizens, popularly known as “hustlers,” warning that attempts to shift blame to previous administrations would not work.

“Give hustlers the jobs you promised them. You are the one who promised. You cannot say that other presidents also did not do it. Do not cry today that you have no solution,” Gachagua said.

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• police brutality
• Politics
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• Housing Levy
• extrajudicial killings
• Police Brutality
• protests
• Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua
• unmarked Subaru vehicle
• Gachagua unveils 8-point plan to end protests
• slams Ruto over housing levy

Respect for the Constitution

He contrasted Ruto’s leadership with that of former Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, stating that they governed with respect for the Constitution and did not interfere with institutions or engage in repressive tactics.

“Yes, Mr President, there were other presidents before you, as you have rightly stated, and it's true, they never went through what you are experiencing today,” he said.

“May it please you to know the reason why Kenyans rarely had problems with them. They were guided by the Constitution to rule; they did not capture our constitutional institutions to work for them. They never killed our children, they never attempted to build a church at State House, they never organised goons to destroy people’s property and kill them.”

Gachagua also dismissed the notion that the dissent is being driven solely by residents of Mt Kenya, saying the dissatisfaction cuts across the entire country.

“It is not the Kikuyus who want him out of office, it is the entire people of Kenya,” he said.

“Kenyans are suffering equally across the country; that is why Kenyans are saying if you believe that it is the Kikuyus who want you out, then all Kenyans are Kikuyus.”

Divisive and dangerous

Gachagua condemned what he described as the profiling of the Kikuyu community by the current administration, calling it divisive and dangerous.

Gachagua also claimed that a secret police unit comprising 101 officers had been formed during his tenure as Deputy President. He alleged the unit is behind the recent attacks on protesters and is directly under the command of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), not the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

“This squad of 101 people was formed when I was still in government. The officers were recruited from the Administration Police unit for special training by NIS on abductions, killings and cover-up,” he said.

According to Gachagua, the officers were equipped with unmarked Subaru vehicles to make the public believe they were under DCI, when in fact they were a rogue unit.

“I want to clarify that the NIS has procured Subarus to give the impression that this killer gang is from DCI. The truth of the matter is this has nothing to do with DCI,” he added.

He was responding to a widely circulated video that showed masked, armed men in unmarked vehicles firing at protesters on July 7 at an undisclosed location.

According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), as of July 8, the country had recorded 31 fatalities, 107 injuries, two cases of enforced disappearance, and 532 arrests during the ongoing protests.

The commission also documented widespread destruction of property, although the full extent of the damage remains unquantified.