By Nyanza Wire 
If politics were an awards show, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua would already have a shelf full of trophies for Best Soundbite, Most Dramatic Interview, and Lifetime Achievement in Catchy Slogans. Unfortunately, elections are not won on prime-time television. They are won at polling stations.
Gachagua has kept the opposition thoroughly entertained. Every week there’s a new clip, a new jab, a new fiery declaration aimed at William Ruto. Social media trends. Supporters cheer. Talk shows dissect every syllable. For 24 hours, it feels like momentum. Then voting day arrives — and the scoreboard tells a different story.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: power does not shift because of viral videos. It shifts through strategy, structure, organization, and a message that is deliberately sold to voters on the ground. By-elections are the political gym — they test stamina, discipline, and the ability to convert noise into numbers. And lately, the opposition’s gym results have been… underwhelming.
You can draw massive crowds. You can insult your opponent with poetic creativity. You can declare political earthquakes in press conferences. But if you cannot translate applause into ballots, then what you’re running is theatre — loud, dramatic, and ultimately inconsequential.
Even more puzzling is the choice to take political “vacations” when by-election trenches are calling. Leadership is proven on dusty campaign trails, not in comfortable studios. Kwani mnaogopa huyu jamaa?
By handing by-elections to Ruto like complimentary sweets, the opposition is feeding a narrative of invincibility. It strengthens the perception that Ruto cannot be beaten — not because he is unbeatable, but because his challengers are busy trending instead of organizing and the best Gachagua can do is pocket aspirants money and make loud noise. Or maybe he is in Ruto’s payroll, for all you know politics is a dirty game.
At this rate, Gachagua is becoming the opposition’s most enthusiastic content creator — rich in slogans, poor in results. Maybe it’s time for Gachagua to step away from the microphones, return to the drawing board, rebuild the grassroots machinery, and remember one stubborn fact of politics: votes, not vibes, decide power.
Ama ni sisi ndio hatuoni strategy iko wapi?
Walter Akillah 
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