'Hi Cousins?': How Riggy G became the grand master of viral sloganeering

Unlike in some civilised societies, where political oratory is bathed in sophisticated policy and erudite debate, the Kenyan version is replete with malicious mudslinging and gross slander aimed at riling up the masses, evoking a chuckle, denigrating the opponent and producing a notorious soundbite.

The game is so messy that the average Kenyan voter has become acclimatised to it - to the everyday voter, the man with the slickest snippet gets the wildest cheers, and the man with the catchiest zinger ultimately wins the day.

Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua is the one man who has, perhaps, best mastered the idiosyncracy of the average voter's mind and a man who has masterfully managed to capture the nation's imagination by injecting fatal aphorisms into his speeches, and ruthlessly annihilating his opponents.

Despite their machiavellian manoeuvres, meant to silence the former DP and banish him into obscurity, the King of Wamunyoro managed to craftilly outsmart the pack, and like a cunning capybara, swam his way through the backwaters and onto the troubled concisence of a nation, like a force of nature, sending tremors throughout the political system.

Armed with a potent oratory prowess, Gachagua has become one of the most colorful opposition politicians to emerge - and, by far, the most dominant personality on the theatrical Kenyan political landscape.

Over the last several months, Gachagua has become a delicious fount of viral slogans, pithy catchphrases, witty quotes and humorous choruses as he traverses the country packed with a resounding resolve - scatter William Ruto from the corridors of State House.

The former DP, an astute showman and an indefatigable combatant, has become the most critical linchpin in the clamour to oust Ruto as he continues to inject political high jinks into his nationwide forays, leaving friend and foe utterly gobsmacked.

With every witty utterance and smart slogan, Gachagua has become the personification of Kenya's political weariness - and the redeeming grace of a people slapped with national malaise.

Expect perhaps Raila Odinga, no other opposition leader has approached the duty with as much pomp, bombast and urgency as Rigathi Gachagua. He has immaculately mastered the art of oral showmanship, and has the thunderous voice to launch his salvos home.

With just a single slogan, Gachagua is vacuuming up Ruto's entire base, as they scramble from funeral to fundraiser, unable to stand still as the vocal bullets countinue to pound through.

Stripped of the ornaments of the Karen office, Gachagua chose his motorcade's sunroof as his political cudgel, every day, coming up with stinging one-liners which quickly shake up the internet, dominate bar stool conversations and create a frenzied weekend of viral replays and hilarious reenactments.

At Githurai 45, more than a fortnight ago, Gachagua addressed a mammoth crowd which held on to his every word. Ever the vocal grandmaster, he led the throbbing crowd of thousands into a chorus which has, undoubtedly, since rattled Ruto's innermost core.

"Harambee!" Gachagua roared. The crowd, having learned the assignment already, hollered back: "Wantam!"

For days on end, that single chant irradiated the internet - especially Tiktok - with the slogan "Wantam" becoming a trending Tiktok challenge with hundreds of thousands of entries. In nightclubs, too, revellers, alongside stage performers, incorporated the slogan into their drunken revelry, randomly breaking into latenight chants and sharing videos online.

Less than a month after rocking the airwaves with the "Wantam" masterpiece, Gachagua yet again regaled crowds with yet another mercurial gem - "Cousins". 

Atop his SUV, a charged Gachagua tore into William Ruto's faction, telling them off for branding him a tribalist while at the same time enchantingly pulling the Coastal crowds into his fold by declaring them bonafide relatives of the Kikuyu people. 

"Sisi ni ma cousins, ukweli ama uwongo?" Gachagua blared. "Hi, cousins! Hi, cousins? Hi, Ma Cuzo? Cousins wapendane wasipendane?" 

Yet again, the viral soundbite rattled the internet as thousands of parodies, challenges, comical reenactments and AI spoofs ceaselessly littered the timeline.

A gifted orator, Gachagua's success at electrifying crowds and fuelling the opposition lies in his mastery of prose; his village-style manner of storytelling which doesn't rely too much on polished preparation and simply waltzes off the tongue as a matter-of-fact.

Infact, his unbeatable adeptness at grassroots mobilisation had already captured the attention of exiled lawyer Miguna Miguna - himself a thoroughbred orator - who, back in 2022, heaped praises on Gachagua's impressive mastery at crowd control.

Speaking to Look Up TV, Miguna then said: "I think Gachagua is the best communicator of that team. I think he's the best mobiliser. I think Gachagua understands power politics more than anybody else in that team. He's a very insightful man. I've studied him..."

The political Teflon, whose Wamunyoro home now rivals State House as far as statecraft is concerned, appears to have swiftly pervaded all of the Kenyan society, as he leads a heightened crusade of anti-Ruto dogma, hoping from town to town, leaping from crowd to crowd, enthralling the masses with his ingenuity, oral proficiency and on-stage simplicity laced with lethal tenacity.

Like Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, Gachagua has become a consummate internet catnip whose exploits, utterances and brash confrontations have continued to leave the President's team severely shaken and even, at some point, contemplating throwing him in the coolers.

In it all, the King of Wamunyoro appears to be draw inspiration from the deafening cheers he draws everywhere he goes - and his own inherent ability to effortlessly disembowel his detractors by the sheer lyric of his tongue.