By Elijah Koome
Screengrab of the TikTok video claiming that Gachagua has retired from politics
A TikTok video posted on June 10, 2026, claims that Gachagua has resigned from politics. A TikTok account with the username Kijana Ya Rais Waziri, which, as of June 11, 2026, had 116,000 followers, shared the video. The account is known for posting viral video clips and political commentaries. By June 11, 2026, the video had gained 13k likes, 171 comments, and 221 shares.
Background
Rigathi Gachagua is a prominent Kenyan politician and former deputy president who served between September 2022 and October 2024. He was impeached based on a multitude of allegations ranging from corruption to inciting ethnic violence. Gachagua went to court to challenge the impeachment, arguing that the process was unconstitutional. After several months of deliberation, the high court made a ruling on June 8, 2026, upholding Gachagua’s impeachment despite finding that his right to a fair trial was infringed upon during the impeachment process. Due to the latter finding, Gachagua was awarded compensation of 50 million shillings.
Reacting to the ruling during a press conference at his Karen home, Gachagua rejected the amount awarded to him and vowed to appeal the verdict. He expressed his disappointment at the 350-page ruling made by a three-judge bench.
Verification
In the TikTok clip, Gachagua says, “You will not see me again in political mobilization. I have no other responsibility from today.” The caption then interprets this to mean Gachagua is retiring from politics. A reverse image search of the clip’s keyframes using Google Lens reveals that this clip was excerpted from Gachagua’s press conference shortly after the court’s ruling.
Screenshot of the reverse image search of the video’s keyframes
Upon listening to the full recording of the press conference, it is clear that the caption takes Gachagua’s words out of context. Below is a transcription of Gachagua’s words:
“I have left the issues of court now to my lawyers. I have no other responsibility from today. It is to make sure that we have one single presidential candidate against President William Ruto. Once that is achieved, I’ll then get back to the ground and start political mobilization. But in the meantime, after this weekend when I go to Western, you will not see me again in political mobilization. We are moving now into the phase of strategy to identify one single presidential candidate, and then after that is done we start the work of political mobilization. Asanteni sana.”
He said he would step back from political mobilization to focus on uniting the opposition behind a single presidential candidate to challenge President William Ruto, contrary to the caption’s claim that he is retiring from politics.
Verdict
The claim that Gachagua is retiring from politics is MISLEADING.
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