A whisper in a Kisumu hotel room — and a recorder no one admits placing there — has reopened one of the most consequential rifts in Kenya’s recent political history.
The secret tape has surfaced in which former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is heard threatening to impeach President William Ruto, exposing the mistrust that simmered inside the Kenya Kwanza administration long before it burst into public view.
The recording, allegedly made during a private meeting in August 2024, captures Gachagua speaking with striking confidence. “I have the numbers, and we can send him home,” he says, referring to an impeachment motion against the president. He suggests he had secured the backing of lawmakers from the vote-rich Mount Kenya region — a bloc widely seen at the time as his political stronghold.
Gachagua admits there was a recording but has failed to provide details. Gachagua said that the conversation was secretly recorded by officers from the National Intelligence Service and later delivered to the State House. He claims the surveillance was triggered after President Ruto learned he was meeting the late Emurua Dikirr MP, Johana Ng’eno.
“And I was in Kisumu, he came to see me, and once Ruto learned that he was coming, he sent the NIS to bug my room to record our conversation,” Gachagua admits.
Gachagua has described Ng’eno as a close friend and political ally. He recounts that the MP arrived troubled, saying he was facing persecution for defending the rights of the Kipsigis community and for resisting pressure tied to internal political battles.
Gachagua further alleges that Ng’eno showed him threatening messages, allegedly from Ruto — some allegedly sent while the president was in the United States — warning of consequences if he failed to support certain political moves. Gachagua says he advised Ng’eno to sign the impeachment motion, which targets him, arguing it would protect the lawmaker and his family.
The former deputy president also uses the recording to air grievances about campaign financing. He is heard demanding repayment of funds he claims to have spent during the 2022 campaign, insisting the president had promised to help him recover the money. The tone, at times, is raw — part anger, part disbelief.
The resurfacing of the tape carries sharp irony. When the Kisumu meeting took place, Gachagua himself was under intense political siege. Parliament was debating his impeachment over allegations of abuse of office and leadership failures. Many of the Mount Kenya MPs he believed were firmly in his corner ultimately voted to remove him — a reversal he later described as a stunning betrayal.
Ng’eno, who attended the Kisumu meeting, died on Feb. 28, 2026, in a helicopter crash in Mosop, Nandi County, alongside five others. Authorities attributed the crash to adverse weather conditions and said investigations are ongoing. No official link has been made between the accident and the political tensions described in the recording.
Neither State House nor the intelligence service has publicly confirmed the existence of the tape. Gachagua has not released the full audio, saying only that it illustrates how quickly alliances can unravel at the highest levels of government.
