Drunk with power: Ichung'wah's 'polished goon' tag grows as he spews insults, threatens dissent

For the better part of two years, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah has positioned himself as President William Ruto’s most loyal foot soldier, wielding a political style defined by insults, threats, and accusations of deploying goons and police to silence dissent.

To his opponents, the Kikuyu MP is a bully who uses crude language and state machinery to battle opponents.

For an Alliance High School alumnus, Ichung’wah is expected to demonstrate a high level of integrity and respect that reflect the ideals of the premier institution.

However, from the National Assembly to the open public spaces, Ichung’wah embodies all that a leader should not be: arrogance, self-entitlement and impunity.

Insults flow freely from Ichung’wah’s tongue, both inside Parliament and at rallies. And now, he even orchestrates the silencing of dissent.

Yesterday, tensions boiled over in Kikuyu town as a planned rally by the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua was met with blockades, burning tyres, and teargas.

Access routes into the town, including the Southern Bypass, were barricaded with stones and bonfires, bringing traffic to a standstill as motorists were warned to avoid the area.

Gachagua, who managed to sneak into the town late afternoon and address the crowd, placed the blame squarely on the doorstep of Ichung’wa.

He claimed that the chaos that ensued- due to police tear gassing peaceful crowds- was a premeditated attempt to exercise impunity and bar political opponents from Ichung’wa’s stronghold. 

Yesterday’s events were, however, the culmination of Ichung’wah’s threats against Gahagua’s visit to his constituency.

“They (opposition) were recently in Wangige, where they said that they would come and insult me in my own constituency… That Gachagua can come from out there and insult me in my backyard. Tell him if he is circumcised to come and try to insult me in my Constituency. That is when he will know that we are the ones that got circumcised first,” Ichung’wah had said on March 25, 2026, during an event at Alliance Girls High School grounds.

It was these remarks that sparked a reaction from Gachagua – and the standoff that ensued yesterday.

At the memorial ceremony of the late Ol Kalou MP David Kiaraho in Captain Nyandarua, Gachagua was blunt.

“I told you, Mr President, if you listen to these children like Ichung’wah, they will lead you into a hole…I told you that betrayal is not forgiven among our people.  You chose to listen to Ichung’wah; now this community has rejected you,’ stated Gachagua.

“Mr President, please tell Ichung’wah that we will be going to Kikuyu on Saturday, he has planned thugs to beat and rob people, burn houses and loot businesses,” he added.

But yesterday’s events were not the first time that Ichung'wa's loose stance and defiant talk had put him in trouble.

The most scorching example of Ichung’wah’s verbal excesses came on Sunday, July 20, 2025, when the Majority Leader directed deeply personal and unprintable language against Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, the wife of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

Speaking during an empowerment programme in Kajiado Central, Ichung’wah alleged that Pastor Dorcas was involved in an extramarital affair with a bishop.

“Huyu amekaliwa na bibi. Mwanaume amekaliwa na bibi ataambia nini wanaume wenzake?” Ichung’wah said, implying that Gachagua was a “weak man controlled by his wife” 

“This man is controlled by his wife. What advice can such a man give to other men?”. He cheekily added that Gachagua’s marriage could also be “one-term”.

The remarks triggered public outrage on social media, with many terming them deeply disrespectful and inappropriate.

Former Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, a one-time ally of Ichung’wah, issued a strongly worded rebuke on Monday, July 21, 2025.

In a tweet, Kuria wrote: “When Rigathi Gachagua said that President Ruto asked him not to tag along with his spouse to the National Prayer Breakfast because Mama Rachael was not there, I called him out on national TV for pettiness. By the same vein, Hon Kimani Ichung’wah is grossly out of order for dragging Pastor Dorcas Rigathi into the mud only because of her husband.” Kuria added a plea for restraint.

Pastor Dorcas responded on July 23, 2025, while addressing Kenyan clergy in the United States.

“We are one unit. There’s nothing wrong with that. We move together and stand for the same ideals – prayer, family, and service.”

On March 21, 2023, he labelled the late opposition leader Raila Odinga an “urban terrorist” during a heated exchange in the National Assembly.

Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo, in response, sarcastically asked whether Ichung’wah might be a member of the LGBTQ community due to his “preoccupation with former President Uhuru Kenyatta”.

Ichung’wah responded on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, saying:

“I heard what she said, and I would say Millie Odhiambo used rubbish words. She spoke rubbish on the floor of the House. There is language that is foreign to the House, which is not permissible. Millie became petty, and clearly, she had lost it. That goes a long way in showing the kind of leadership that Azimio has and entertains.”

He has also derided Azimio's economic advisor, Maison Leshomo. On October 4, 2023, Ichung’wah wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Jesus! Maison Leshomo is part of the Azimio Economic Council. If you know the gracious former Member for Samburu, you just give up!” The remark ignited fierce online debate, with Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina urging humility.

“We must include everyone and appreciate our diversity…your five fingers are not the same, but they help! Humility, my brother, humility.”

Perhaps more alarming is Ichung’wah’s penchant for threatening opponents with the long arm of the law.

In December 2024, as Kenya faced a wave of abductions of government critics, Ichung’wah made sensational claims that some victims were faking their own disappearances.

Speaking in Narok County on Monday, December 31, 2024, Ichung’wah stated: “The government of Kenya has no business abducting anybody based on what they say on social media. There is a law. If you contravene the law, the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018, you can be arrested and charged. Nobody needs to abduct you. I am seeing some people go and lock themselves in Airbnb’s with their girlfriends for three days and say they have been abducted.”

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) subsequently demanded Ichung’wah’s resignation, accusing him of dismissing abduction claims and suggesting victims were fabricating stories for financial gain.

The political temperature in Ichung’wah’s Kikuyu backyard has reached a boiling point, with the Majority Leader and former Deputy President Gachagua trading accusations of using “goons” and police to harass opponents.

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Ichung’wah made a dramatic claim on the floor of Parliament: “I dare say today in this House, Hon. Rigathi Gachagua is the one who directed goons he mobilised to go and murder my parents, destroy my property in Kikuyu, and damage property belonging to the people of Kikuyu in the name of revenge.”

The feud escalated further this week. On Friday, April 10, 2026, Ichung’wah wrote to Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, accusing Gachagua of “mobilising criminal gangs” and “hate speech” to destabilise Kikuyu Constituency.

He alleged that Gachagua had enlisted a vernacular radio presenter to advance a message of division, comparing the role of the media to that in the Rwandan genocide. Ichung’wah warned that businesses belonging to his family had been identified as potential targets.

Gachagua fired back, accusing Ichung’wah of planning to deploy goons.

Yesterday, chaos erupted along the Southern Bypass near Kikuyu Town, where goons blocked the road with burning tyres, attacked motorists, and targeted pedestrians. Police later fired teargas to disperse the crowds and restore order.

In his defence, Ichung’wah claimed that Gachagua was responsible for the chaos.

“It is not random chaos. It bears the hallmarks of the same kind of coordinated political attacks we saw when political interests hijacked what had been peaceful protests,” said Ichung’wah.  

Ichung’wah has repeatedly accused Gachagua of trying to sabotage President Ruto.

In  June 2024, during a Thanksgiving event at Gichuru Memorial High School, Ichung’wah declared:

“Stop telling people at night that William Ruto is a one-term president, and you will marshal your community to undermine, to sabotage, the government of President William Ruto so that he fails and you become president.” He warned: “If you seek to sabotage the government of Kenya for your own selfish ends, my brother, you will go absolutely nowhere”.

His allies have pleaded for restraint. Former Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri, who considers Ichung’wah a “younger brother,” issued a stern warning in June last year during a Facebook livestream, lamenting that Ichung’wah had chosen “insults over issues.”

Ngunjiri expressed deep dismay at the way Ichung’wah was going after Gachagua with what he called uncalled-for and belittling language.

“Kimani Ichung’wah, you are my younger brother — challenge Gachagua if you wish, but do not insult him. You have not attained that level,” he said.

 He warned that Ichung’wah was treading a dangerous path and had clearly lost the plot.

The former MP further expressed concern that Ichung’wah, despite holding a high office, was now known more for his harsh words than for his leadership.

“In our Kikuyu culture, we do not respect people who insult others, especially not when the insults come from a younger person. No matter how wrong Gachagua may be, he is still your elder,” Ngunjiri said. 

Ichung’wah also extends bad manners to his colleagues in Parliament.

During the debate on the partial divestiture of Safaricom on March 31, 2026, Ichung’wah would dismissively tell off Caroli Omondi (Suba South), disparaging his profession as an esteemed lawyer.

Omondi questioned whether it was lawful for the House to debate the motion, given that there was an ongoing Court case on the same.

Ichung’wah took a cue from the Speaker, absolving the House from any wrongdoing.

“Hon speaker, you did allude earlier that Omondi is a lawyer of high repute. I heard from you because there is nothing he has ever done that has exhibited that he has any legal background in his transaction in the House. His reading of standing order 89 is very selective,” said Ichung’wah.