Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has distanced himself from a viral notice claiming that he repeatedly rejected requests by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for a meeting.
The notice, seen by The Kenya Times, which circulated on social media carrying the branding of the Office of the Fourth President of the Republic of Kenya, alleged that Gachagua had sent several requests to meet Kenyatta through different intermediaries but that the former president had declined them.
It further contained remarks purportedly made by Uhuru about his relationship with Gachagua and the former president’s views on political engagement.
However, the notice has been flagged as fake, meaning the statement and the remarks attributed to Kenyatta were not an official communication from his office.
The fabricated statement claimed that the requests were made “on more than one occasion, through various intermediaries” and that Kenyatta had considered and rejected them.
“The Office of the Fourth President of the Republic of Kenya wishes to address, with finality, the matter of the repeated requests conveyed to this office seeking a meeting between H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua,” read the fake notice.
“It is confirmed that such requests have been received, on more than one occasion, through various intermediaries. It is equally confirmed that H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta has considered these requests carefully and has declined them. No meeting has taken place, none is scheduled, and none is being contemplated.”
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The document went further, purporting to explain why the former president had allegedly declined the meeting.
It claimed that Kenyatta had dedicated his life to “the building of coalitions, the nurturing of partnerships and the painstaking work of bringing people together in service of a shared national purpose.”
The notice then made a series of remarks attributed to Kenyatta about Gachagua’s conduct.
“The retired President has, over a sustained period, observed with concern a pattern of behaviour from Gachagua that speaks to a disposition ill-suited to the collaborative demands of national leadership,” the notice read.
It went on to describe the alleged behaviour as “a serial antagonism to partners, the inability to sustain political relationships without reducing them to conflicts, and a style of political engagement that prioritises personal dominance over collective progress.”
The fake notice also purported to quote Kenyatta as saying that a meeting between the two leaders would not serve any useful purpose.
“H.E. Kenyatta does not believe that a meeting, under present conditions, would be productive, for either party, or for the broader national interest that the retired President continues to hold dear.”
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It also purported to quote the former president criticizing what it described as a pattern of political behaviour by Gachagua.
The fake notice was made to appear like an official press release, complete with the Office of the Fourth President’s branding and the name of Kanze Dena-Mararo, who served as Kenyatta’s spokesperson.
Its circulation comes amid continued political realignments and speculation over possible engagements between leaders who have previously been on opposing sides of Kenya’s political divide.
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