Collateral damage: How politicians’ spouses were caught up in early campaign wars

A new and unsettling trend is emerging on the country’s political landscape: a trend where anything goes, and spouses are no longer off-limits.

From National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, politicians are unleashing verbal attacks that now target their rivals' spouses. What was once considered a line not to be crossed in political discourse is fast becoming collateral damage in the early campaign trail.

Political spouses, once shielded from the crossfire of partisan combat, are now frequent targets of political salvos and public mockery, with decorum and ethical boundaries seemingly crumbling.

The most recent flare-up began in Kajiado Central last week when Kikuyu MP and Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah launched a controversial attack suggesting that some leaders are being controlled by their wives:

“Wakabila watakuja wakienda Ukambani waseme ‘hey cousin,’ kwa sababu wanataka kutenganisha Wakikuyu na Wamaasai. Akikuja kwa Wamaasai anasema ‘oh mimi ni shimeji byenu.’ Na wewe bibi yako amekukalia kitako; umekaliwa hata huwezi pumua. Hata huwezi ongea kabla bibi yako hajaongea ndiyo akupee ruhusa uongee,” Ichung’wah said on July 18.

The remarks sparked backlash, especially from Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, wife of former Deputy President Gachagua, who responded from Boston, where she is accompanying her husband on a U.S. tour.

“When he gives me to speak, he is not giving me to speak because I am... I heard I sit? How can I sit on a man like this? A man who is causing a whole nation not to sleep?” said Mrs Rigathi on July 22.

Yet in a twist of irony, Gachagua himself soon turned his fire on another political spouse: Sam Mburu, husband to Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika, accusing him of interfering with his party's political activities.

“I have talked to the police in Nakuru. They are saying the husband of Susan Kihika, called Sam Mburu, is the one giving instructions to the police,” the former DP said on July 22.

“He has said the wife is in charge of the county; he is in charge of the national government in Nakuru... Sisi tumesema since we can’t work on that guy, we have told our people in Nakuru to punish him—huyu bibi yake, one term.”

Governor Susan Kihika fired back the following day in a no-holds-barred rejoinder: “Sasa anauliza bwana yangu nini? Si ni Mkenya tu. Hajachaguliwa kitu. Ana-direct aje polisi na ni civilian tu? Wewe Gachagua unikome. Wewe ni extortionist!”

“Kwa hivyo kama kuna mahali anataka kuoana mauaji, afanye ivo huko Wamunyoro. Asijaribu kuja na hizo kiherehere yake huku Nakuru. Akuje akiwa mpole.”

Even Cabinet Secretary for Health Aden Duale weighed in, cautioning against dragging spouses into political mudslinging:

“Kwani huyu bwana yake Sam amefanya makosa gani? Na wewe ukitaka kupigana na mambo ya siasa, tafuta Susan. Wachana na huyo kijana anafanya biashara yake,” the CS said on July 23.

With these dramatic developments, the once-unspoken immunity for political spouses has come to an end.

Kenyan politics has taken a personal turn, and the campaign trail, it seems, is headed south of the belt.