No, Kenyan MP Kimani Ichung'wah has not defected to rival party
IN SHORT: Viral TikTok clips falsely claim the senior Kenyan lawmaker has ditched president William Ruto's party for former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua's Democracy for the Citizens Party. But the video is old, edited and used out of context.
Posts circulating on TikTok since early May 2026 show a short clip of Kenya's national assembly majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah addressing a rally.
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In the clip, he speaks in Kiswahili, which translates to: "William Ruto, in your usual arrogance, you said we are thieves. When we voted for you, Mr President, were we thieves, or were we voters?"
He then asks the crowd: "Are you thieves?" They respond: "No."
The videos are captioned with variations on "Breaking News: Kimani Ichungwa join DCP party".
Their central claim is that the member of parliament for Kikuyu constituency has left president William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party for Rigathi Gachagua's Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP).
The videos also include text claiming viewers can "win free money" if they dial certain mobile codes.
Together, the posts have been viewed thousands of times.
Political context
Gachagua was Ruto's running mate in the 2022 general elections on the UDA presidential ticket. But after being elected, the two politicians fell out and Gachagua was impeached. Since then, he has become a strong critic of Ruto and emerged as a leading opposition figure.
In 2025 he formed the DCP, which has already bagged some seats in recent county by-elections.
Kimani Ichung'wah, on the other hand, remains one of Ruto's closest allies. Since Gachagua's impeachment, the two have traded sharp public criticism.
With several UDA politicians recently leaving the party or aligning with the DCP, viral clips suggesting Ichung'wah has also switched sides have fuelled speculation online.
But is it true? We checked.
Old clip edited and taken out of context
The statement by Ichung'wah matches remarks made during the 2022 election campaign while he backed Ruto against then president Uhuru Kenyatta.
A search of campaign livestreams from the time leads to the original video, recorded at a rally in Nyeri in central Kenya in February 2022. From the 1:26:31 mark, it is clear Ichung'wah was referring to Kenyatta, not Ruto.
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The viral clip has been edited. The words "William Ruto" were taken from another part of the speech and inserted at the beginning to change the meaning. In the full video, Ichung'wah is clearly criticising Kenyatta.
There is also no credible evidence that Ichung'wah has defected from UDA. Such a major political move would likely receive widespread media coverage. In fact, his recent public activity shows he is still closely aligned with Ruto. As of 6 May 2026, he was posting photos from the president's official visit to Tanzania.
The "free money" instructions in the videos are another red flag. Similar TikTok posts often use such claims as bait, tricking users into unknowingly subscribing to paid services that deduct airtime.
The claim is false. The video is old and edited, and there is no evidence that Ichung'wah has joined the DCP party or broken ranks with Ruto.
