Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched a blistering political offensive, challenging President William Ruto to account for a litany of broken vows to Northern Kenya’s marginalized communities just hours before a presidential tour.

This confrontation is more than a mere political skirmish; it is a calculated expose of the widening chasm between campaign rhetoric and the harsh reality of governance in Kenya’s arid frontiers. Gachagua’s demand for accountability strikes at the heart of the administration’s credibility, questioning why, three years into power, the region remains shackled by chronic water shortages and educational paralysis. As the President prepares to land in the region to distribute the NYOTA Funds—a project Gachagua dismissively brands as a World Bank initiative rather than a state achievement—the political stakes have been raised to a fever pitch.

A Legacy of Neglect Exposed

Speaking from a press briefing that felt more like a tribunal, Gachagua dismantled the administration’s record in the north with surgical precision. He cited damning statistics that paint a picture of systemic abandonment. According to his dossier, less than 35 percent of the population in the region has access to safe drinking water, a basic human right that remains a luxury in counties like Wajir and Marsabit. Furthermore, he highlighted a catastrophic failure in the education sector, noting that over 850,000 children are projected to miss school in 2025 and 2026 due to a lack of infrastructure and feeding programs.

The former Deputy President did not mince words when addressing the health crisis. He painted a grim tableau of mothers in Garissa, Mandera, and Isiolo still forced to give birth at home without medical assistance, leading to preventable maternal and infant mortality rates that shame the national conscience. "These are not just numbers; they are lives betrayed by a government that promised a bottom-up revolution but delivered top-down indifference," Gachagua asserted, his voice heavy with the gravity of the accusation.

• The Water Mirage: Despite billions allocated for dams and boreholes, residents in Wajir still trek for kilometers in search of water, sharing scoop holes with livestock.
• Education in Peril: The promise of free primary education has evaporated in the heat of the north, with classrooms remaining empty and teachers unpaid.
• Healthcare Collapse: Essential drugs are out of stock in county referral hospitals, forcing the destitute to seek expensive private care or succumb to treatable ailments.

The NYOTA Fund Controversy

The timing of Gachagua’s attack is impeccable, designed to cast a long shadow over President Ruto’s upcoming visit. The President is scheduled to launch the NYOTA Funds, a financial upliftment program touted as a game-changer for the youth. However, Gachagua has moved to strip the President of this optical victory by framing the fund as a World Bank project, implying that the administration is taking credit for donor-funded initiatives while its own coffers run dry. This narrative complicates the Presidents optics, forcing him to defend his record rather than simply basking in the glow of a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

As the presidential motorcade winds its way through the dusty plains of Garissa, the questions raised by Gachagua will hang in the air like the relentless heat. The people of Northern Kenya, long used to being political pawns, are now watching a high-stakes power struggle where their misery is the ammunition. Whether this pressure yields tangible development or merely more political theater remains the defining question of the week.