DP Gachagua to rivals: I will not move an inch in Ruto government
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addresses residents of Magunga in Homa Bay County on August 29, 2024.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua Friday downplayed concerns that he is under siege in the Kenya Kwanza government in the face of an onslaught by some Mt Kenya MPs as well as opposition MPs allied to Raila Odinga.
The DP assured Kenyans that he is also not shaken by the entry of the opposition politicians into government, as his place is guaranteed and secure.
The DP was responding to the Democratic Alliance Party (DAP) Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa on whether he was shaken by the inclusion of ODM bigwigs in government by his boss President William Ruto.
“Don’t worry about me government, I am the owner and I am inside. Hata kama ikuje kabila gani, mimi ni chuma ya zamani. Niko huko ndani, ” stressed the DP, amidst laughter from the mourners.
He was speaking in Kitale, Trans Nzoia county at the funeral of former National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Victor Okioma.
“I am inside. This government I fought for it. There is nowhere I can move; not even an inch. Those the president brought we have welcomed them in government, “said Mr Gachagua.
Those picked from Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) are Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) Hassan Joho (Blue Economy and Mining), John Mbadi(National Treasury), Opiyo Wandayi(Energy and Petroleum), , Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives) and Beatrice Askul of East African Community.
Top Mt Kenya MPs, led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, have launched a scathing attack at the DP, vowing to defend Mr Odinga and the CSs in government.
He dared the DP to take him head-on, questioning that if he took on the former president Uhuru Kenyatta when he was a mere MP, he did not fear anybody else.
“You cannot threaten me because you have a role near the president. I fought President Kenyatta. I just fear hot porridge and electricity. And let no one tell us that we should not have welcomed Raila, or sell us the fear of tribalism,” Mr Ichung’wah said in Rongai.
And in Kitale, Mr Gachagua said he was unmovable.
“Even if there was an attempt and they are racing, it can not work, because the person sitting there is Riggy G. Chuma. That is how it is. On that there is no problem, us, we want all Kenyans to unite,” said the DP.
“We have one united country. We work together. This is our country but me I want that people unite across the country. We will continue uniting people and that is what all regions do. It is important to sit together to deliberate on it.“
Mr Wamalwa had recalled how the political contest played out in the western region especially Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties pitting the Azimio la Umoja one Kenya Coalition party against the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
He argued that a combination of Bungoma governor Ken Lusaka and the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula of Ford Kenya saw they carry the day, while his DAP-K party locked them out in Trans Nzoia county with the victory of Governor George Natembeya.
Telling signs
Mr Wamalwa however told the DP that the telling signs are all written now on the wall that the game is the same but the players have changed teams.
“Ahead is not known, we have friends in Azimio who have changed and joined the government. With politics you never know, it's dynamic,” he urged DP to not be caught in the political heat without a strategy.
“History is like a camel. If a camel puts its head, it says it has not entered the government tents. Then its back and still maintains its outside, the head and the entire body. Then finally,” he spoke in a riddle, directed at the actions of ODM’s dalliance with the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
“Us we have been abandoned and left in darkness by our colleagues, so you should also read the signs ahead. Be warned that when our colleagues enter like a camel, they change things upside down,” he gave the DP a piece of advice about their collaboration with ODM by dislodging others.
The talks took centre stage at the funeral as were fears that the President's decision to appoint ODM party leaders to the cabinet could herald the birth of a new political outfit for the 2027 General Election (GE).
He was accompanied by the Governors Lusaka, Natembeya and area senator Allan Chesang among other leaders.
Some Mt Kenya MPs have faulted the DP over clarion calls for more resources with the region, with Ichung’wah and Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri accusing the DP of blackmailing the president.
The entrance of the opposition in government has also killed the DP’s slogan of ‘government of shares’ and traps set against Mr Odinga at State House, Nairobi.
