From rags to Second Lady: Pastor Dorcas Gachagua’s remarkable journey
While overcome with emotion, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, the spouse of the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, has shared how she rose from wearing tattered clothes with jiggers eating her up to becoming the second Lady.
Speaking on June 24, 2023, after visiting her former high school, Alliance Girls in Kikuyu, Kiambu County, Pastor Dorcas, revealed she almost missed the opportunity to attend secondary school due to financial constraints.
“I am championing the cause of the vulnerable because I was there. I came from an obscure background, raised by a widow. I had jiggers and lice, and would wear my late father’s shirts, but that has not stopped God from picking me and placing me in the highest office in the land. People wonder why I go to the drug dens, and streets, it is because I would have ended up there,” she said.
“Growing up in the Kiandutu slums of Thika and now standing before you as a successful individual, I am living proof that one’s circumstances do not determine their destiny. I urge each one of you to persevere in the face of adversity and never give up,” Pastor Dorcas passionately said.
She further noted that she came from an obscure single-led household, by a widow, who gave her best to see her children through school.
“We used to carry sweet potatoes and nduma (arrowroots), in our metal boxes while others carried cakes and other snacks. However, this school treated everyone the same. When it came to games, we went together as sisters and friends, and whether you came with cakes or not, we would happily share,” she said.
In the 1980s, those who could afford cakes and other refined snacks were from affluent families.
She attributes her education to an administrator (DC) Thuo Mathenge.
“I was brought here by DC Thuo Mathenge because I did not have school fees. But someone came to my aid,” she said.
Recently, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni heaped praises on Pastor Dorcas after she graced the launch of the Jesus’ Africa book written by his daughter, Patience Rwabwogo.
Museveni hailed Pastor Dorcas as a firebrand and a powerful cadre, promising to take advantage of her pastoring skills.
He also recounted his first meeting with Pastor Dorcas when he came into the country for the swearing in of President William Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua in Nairobi on September 2022.
He noted that at the time, Pastor Dorcas did not speak.
“And I am very happy to see Pastor Rigathi. I didn’t know we have a firebrand in Kenya. When we were swearing in their new government, she didn’t speak.
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