Gen Z as Bait: How Gachagua Is Being Used to Rescue Ruto

When the Gen Z protests erupted in June–July 2024, they were not confused, sponsored, or reckless. They were clear, deliberate, and grounded in real issues. Reject the Finance Bill. Demand accountability. And ultimately, Ruto must go. The protests shook the regime because for the first time, power was being challenged outside tribal politics, outside elite bargains, and outside fear.

President Ruto had no response. He was implicated on every front. His first instinct was denial—branding the protests as paid and non-organic, just as failing leaders elsewhere have done. When that failed, he escalated to criminalization, labeling Gen Z protesters as terrorists. But Gen Z did not retreat. The message held.

That is when the script changed.

To neutralize Gen Z, Ruto needed to shift the battlefield. He needed a familiar enemy, one he could manage and manipulate. Enter Rigathi Gachagua. Suddenly, allies like Oscar Sudi began floating tribal narratives, suggesting that the unrest was sponsored by “Wamunyoro.” All this while Gachagua stayed silent, letting the narrative grow.

This move was strategic. It slowly stripped legitimacy from Gen Z and redirected attention to Gachagua—someone Gen Z had already rejected and who had lost relevance even in Mount Kenya. By attacking Gachagua and his community, Ruto revived him. Sympathy replaced political emptiness. People began to assume that if Ruto was attacking him, then he must be dangerous.

That assumption is false.

If Ruto had ignored Gachagua after impeachment, his politics would have died quietly. Instead, Ruto keeps him alive because he needs him. Gachagua is not the threat—Gen Z is. Gachagua is the decoy opposition, the controlled fire escape.

This is the betrayal many will only realize later. Supporting Gachagua out of emotion, tribal sympathy, or perceived victimhood is exactly what Ruto wants. It divides Gen Z, recenters old politics, and buys Ruto time.

None of these men are worth your trust. As Scripture warns, cursed is the one who puts his trust in man. The real medicine for Ruto was, and still is, fearless Gen Z. That is why he is trying to bribe them with funds and slogans.

The game being played here is not ordinary politics. It is 3D—and Gen Z must refuse to be used as bait.