‘Your tears won’t move Kenyans,’ Gachagua mocks Ruto over emotional moment in Bomet

• Gachagua claimed Ruto’s visit had only exposed what he termed the failure of the National Government to deliver on its promises to the people of Bomet.
• He was also critical of Ruto’s emotional moment during the visit after the President encountered a teary young girl which led him to also shed tears, a moment he termed pretentious.

A screengrab of President Ruto wiping tears after an emotional moment with a girl in Bomet on September 10, 2026.

The Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has criticised President William Ruto over his ongoing visit to Bomet and Kericho counties, accusing the Head of State of failing to deliver development projects in the region despite securing votes from residents.

In a statement posted on his X account on Thursday, Gachagua claimed Ruto’s visit had only exposed what he termed the failure of the national government to deliver on its promises to the people of Bomet.

“Mr. William Ruto visited Bomet County yesterday to quell the public dissatisfaction that his lying and brutal regime had nothing for the residents and that he obtained their votes by false pretenses. His callous visit confirmed their case against him,” Gachagua said.

“The national government has done nothing for the people of Bomet County; just false promises. There was not a single new national government project he could launch, commission, or inspect.”

Gachagua was also critical of Ruto’s emotional moment during the visit after the President encountered a teary young girl which led him to also shed tears, a moment he termed pretentious.

In the moment captured in a viral video, the girl, who was crying throughout, performed a poem for the President, prompting Ruto to break into tears as the crowd cheered.

Ruto was seen wiping his tears and those of the girl with a handkerchief in the widely shared video.

According to the former Deputy President, Ruto is to blame for the hardships that had left the girl distressed; thus, he questioned why Ruto appeared emotional over circumstances he accused his administration of creating.

“He only shed tears about a young girl crying over the hardships her mother is facing. But who has deliberately caused these troubles and pain? Who has caused the tears on the young girl? Isn't it Mr. William Ruto?” Gachagua posed.

“So why was he crying pretentiously? Such tears will no longer move Kenyans into voting for the wrong person! Fix the country, Mr. William Ruto!”

Gachagua further claimed that Ruto had resorted to visiting projects initiated by the county government to demonstrate development during his tour.

“To show a semblance of some development, he could only visit projects by the County Government, namely the County Assembly of Bomet and the Mother and Child Hospital, both projects of the county,” he said.

Gachagua also criticised the implementation of Economic Charters signed between the national government and counties, including Bomet and neighbouring Kericho.

“The Economic Charters signed between him and the counties of Kericho and Bomet, like the rest of the counties, are gathering dust at the UDA headquarters and cannot be implemented in the remaining 11 months of his presidency,” he said.

Despite his criticism of the President’s development record, Gachagua acknowledged that residents of Bomet and Kericho benefited from what he described as millions of handouts during Ruto’s visit.

“Nevertheless, the residents of Bomet and Kericho benefited from the millions of handouts unleashed to mobilize crowds to attend his meetings. However, by Olkalou standards, they were outright shortchanged,” he said.