Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has ridiculed remarks by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who recently claimed that in Africa, no president ever serves for just one term.
Addressing supporters during a United Opposition rally, Gachagua questioned Mudavadi’s political logic by citing real-life examples of African leaders who lost after only one term in office.
“I heard Musalia saying that in Africa, nobody can be a wantam — a President for one term. Now Musalia, is Malawi in Europe or Asia?” Gachagua posed, drawing laughter and cheers from the crowd.
He went on to highlight Malawi’s political history, reminding Kenyans that former President Peter Mutharika defeated incumbent Joyce Banda in 2014, and later, incumbent Lazarus Chakwera himself was a one-term president after being unseated in 2025.
“We also saw it in Botswana, and these are things happening. Kenyans are awake,” Gachagua added, insisting that the idea of one-term presidencies is no longer foreign to Africa’s political reality.
His remarks are widely seen as a rebuttal to Mudavadi’s assertion, which many interpreted as an attempt to assure President William Ruto of continued dominance beyond 2027.
Gachagua, however, argued that the political tide in Kenya was shifting rapidly, with citizens increasingly demanding accountability and performance rather than blind loyalty to incumbents.
Political analysts say Gachagua’s fiery remarks reflect the growing tension between the Kenya Kwanza administration and the opposition, which has been capitalizing on economic hardships and governance failures to rally support.
His sharp jab at Mudavadi also signals the intensifying war of words as leaders position themselves for future political realignments.
By invoking Malawi and Botswana, Gachagua sought to dismantle the myth of “African exceptionalism” regarding presidential terms, framing Kenya as ripe for its own political shake-up.
The comment has since gone viral on social media, with “Is Malawi in Europe or Asia?” trending as Kenyans weighed in on the heated debate.
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