Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua greets Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria among other leaders on arrival at Kinunga Stadium in Nyeri County to attend the burial of Mau Mau freedom figher Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima on September 22, 2023.
It was Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who, infamously, equated the government to a private corporation in which dividends are the preserve of shareholders. The interpretation was that, in President William Ruto’s administration, public sector appointments or distribution of development projects would be concentrated in the regions that voted for the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
It is likely that, in Mr Gachagua’s mind, the main shareholders were his own Mt Kenya regional bloc and President Ruto’s northern Rift Valley power base. That would reduce western Kenya—represented by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula—as well as other regions that split their vote between Kenya Kwanza and opposition leader Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja coalition to second-tier dividends. The regions that voted largely for Azimio would, of course, not enjoy even the crumbs. Despite the ensuing furore, Mr Gachagua remained unapologetic, reiterating his analogy last weekend.
