Gachagua, who returned to Kenya after an extended tour of the United States, turned the President’s remarks into a political joke.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua /HANDOUT

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has ridiculed President William Ruto’s proposal for Kenyans to embrace buffalo milk as an alternative source of dairy amid a shortage attributed to the ongoing drought.

“I came back home and found that you have been told to start taking buffalo milk. I am at my home, Wamunyoro. Because there are so many buffaloes at Hombe Forest, I have sent young men to see if they can get some milk so that I can get enough to prepare for my visitors,” he said.

Gachagua spoke on Wednesday, a day he was visited by leaders of the Linda Mwananchi movement led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.

The meeting came amid efforts by opposition figures to explore possible alliances ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Ruto made the proposal on October 8, 2026, while addressing the Agriculture and Food Security Transformation Summit at the Jamhuri Park ASK Showground in Nairobi.

“I hear buffaloes also produce a lot of milk. If others are milking them, why can't we do the same? What is wrong with that? We need to diversify our sources of milk,” the President said.

Gachagua said he had returned to the country to revive political activity, adding that he was ready to work with other leaders to challenge Ruto.

“I returned after our people said politics had stalled and needed to be re-ignited. I hear things are okay now. Our cousins from Abaluhya visited me. They said that they would like us to unite to look for power so that we can kick out Kasongo [Ruto] because the country has continued to deteriorate,” he said.

The former Deputy President said he had held discussions with the visiting leaders and was open to negotiations aimed at settling on a joint presidential candidate.

“We held talks with those young men…they are good people. I told them that our people are looking for friends. They should come without conditions so that we can come to a consensus and produce one person; be either Rigathi Gachagua or Kalonzo Musyoka or Edwin Sifuna,” he said.

Gachagua expressed confidence that the opposition could unseat Ruto, declaring that the President’s political fortunes were waning.

He also outlined his political priorities, including strengthening his Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), expanding its parliamentary representation and protecting the interests of his political constituency.

“I have come so that we can plan how to send Ruto home with our people…how our people will not be labelled tribalists, how Uhuru [Kenyatta] will not be insulted by anyone; grow our party DCP so that we shall ensure we have more than 100 MPs and be able to protect ourselves to avoid the current abyss we are in,” he said.

Gachagua suggested that more leaders were interested in visiting him at Wamunyoro, maintaining his humorous reference to buffalo milk as he described preparations for the expected guests.

“I am here at Wamunyoro. There are so many leaders willing to come. I have told them to wait so I can see if we can get enough buffalo milk from the forest,” he said.