Rigathi Gachagua is no longer content with fighting just one battle. The former Deputy President, who has spent the months since his impeachment building a grassroots opposition movement, has dramatically expanded his offensive beyond his personal rivalry with successor Kithure Kindiki to target one of President William Ruto’s most powerful Cabinet allies: Health CS Aden Duale.
In a series of explosive rallies across the country, Gachagua has unveiled what he calls a “SHA dossier” — a collection of documents he claims show systematic fraud in the rollout of the Social Health Authority, the government’s flagship universal healthcare programme that replaced the National Health Insurance Fund.
The Allegations
Speaking to crowds in Ukambani and later in Murang’a County, Gachagua made several specific and politically explosive claims. He alleged that Duale holds a 17 per cent stake in a company contracted to implement SHA’s digital infrastructure under a controversial Sh104 billion deal. He further accused the Health CS of effectively managing SHA operations remotely from Dubai, a charge designed to provoke public outrage about absentee governance.
“This man sits in Dubai, sends instructions to Nairobi, and Kenyans pay the bill,” Gachagua told a cheering crowd. “One hundred and three billion shillings has been stolen from your health system, and the person in charge has never been questioned.”
The allegations, while not independently verified, have landed at a sensitive moment. SHA has faced sustained public criticism since its launch, with widespread reports of hospitals rejecting SHA cards, delays in reimbursements to healthcare providers, and confusion among patients transitioning from the old NHIF system.
Duale Fires Back
The Health CS has not taken the attacks quietly. In a sharply worded statement, Duale dismissed Gachagua’s claims as fabricated and accused the former deputy president of resorting to ethnic profiling — a reference to the Somali community — to score political points.
“Gachagua has failed to provide a single document, a single receipt, a single bank statement to support his wild allegations,” Duale told journalists. “What he is doing is dangerous. He is using tribal stereotypes to incite Kenyans against an entire community.”
Duale also noted that SHA has enrolled over 138,000 security officers under the new Usalama Cover and pointed to the government’s crackdown on fraud within the system as evidence of accountability. Since March 30, the Health Ministry has shut down 12 facilities implicated in fraudulent claims, with the DCI investigating 250 more across five counties: Homa Bay, Bungoma, Mandera, Wajir, and Kisii.
The Wider Campaign
Gachagua’s decision to target Duale is widely seen as strategic rather than personal. Duale is one of Ruto’s closest and most loyal allies — a man who once declared, “Even without roads, we stand with you” to the president. By attacking Duale, Gachagua is attacking the inner sanctum of Kenya Kwanza’s power structure.
The escalation follows a pattern. In recent months, Gachagua has systematically taken aim at one government official after another — from Kindiki to Interior PS Raymond Omollo to now Duale — each time framing his critique as a defence of ordinary Kenyans against an unaccountable elite.
When Duale publicly challenged Gachagua to a televised debate on SHA performance, the former DP’s response was swift and dismissive: “I don’t debate employees of William Ruto on television. I debate their boss.”
The Political Calculus
For Gachagua, the SHA offensive serves multiple purposes. It positions him as a healthcare champion at a time when Kenyans are frustrated with the programme’s teething problems. It weakens a key Ruto lieutenant. And it keeps the political conversation focused on government failures rather than opposition divisions.
But the strategy carries risks. The DCI has confirmed it is now investigating Gachagua himself over claims he made about Ksh500 million recovered during the fuel scandal arrests — allegations the investigative agency says are “malicious and calculated to mislead the public.” If the investigation escalates, Gachagua could find himself fighting a legal battle alongside the political one.
For now, though, the former deputy president appears unfazed. His rallies continue to draw large crowds, his social media following grows, and his name dominates the news cycle. Whether his SHA dossier contains the evidence to match the rhetoric remains to be seen — but in the court of public opinion, the damage to Duale and by extension to the Ruto administration is already done.
