According to the governor, Dr Ruto has the sole responsibility of ordering his men and women to respect Mr Gachagua.
In an exclusive interview with NTV, the governor said it was unfortunate that Mr Gachagua was facing criticism from people close to the president yet the Head of State was quiet about it.
“I call on Dr Ruto to give clear instructions that the office of the deputy president should be respected and I too will heed to the order. It doesn’t augur well when people surrounding the president are the ones disrespecting Gachagua,” he said.
Mr Gachagua has faced criticism over his call for the adoption of the 'one man, one vote, one shilling' revenue allocation formula, with leaders close to the president accusing him of promoting tribalism and regionalism in Kenya.
Cabinet Secretaries Kithure Kindiki (Interior), Moses Kuria (Public Service) and Aden Duale (Defence) are among those who have criticised Mr Gachagua over his stance.
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga addresses a public gathering during the commissioning of an irrigation project in Nyeri County on February 15, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
MPs Kimani Ichung’wa (Kikuyu) and his Kiharu counterpart Ndindi Nyoro have also declared war on Mr Gachagua, accusing him of a scheme to undermine Dr Ruto’s government.
However, during the NTV interview, Mr Kahiga, who has been vocal in defence of the DP, said the mode of allocating resources had been politicised.
“People think we’re selfish when we talk of one man, one vote, one shilling formula of allocating resources but that’s not true. What we want is equity. Resources are allocated to people and that is what we want. Nyeri, with 759,000 people, would be disadvantaged but I know it’s the best way of allocating resources. When we go to elections, we elect a government to serve the people,” he said.
The governor warned Dr Ruto that he risked losing support from Mt Kenya region if he did not address the matter.
On Saturday, while speaking at Kutus in Kirinyaga County, a visibly agitated Gachagua came out guns blazing, accusing some people he did not name of “ordering him around”.
“The problem now is that those who are friends of the president want to be my bosses. Is that possible? Even those helping the president as personal assistants or as bloggers now want to control me. They want to tell me what to do. How is that possible?” Mr Gachagua said.
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga addresses a public gathering during the commissioning of an irrigation project in Nyeri County on February 15, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
He said it was unfortunate that some CSs and senior government officials were undermining and lecturing him instead of serving Kenyans.
“I am elected by the people of Kenya and I have two bosses, the President and Kenyans. If you are a friend of the president, keep your friendship and leave me alone. I know my boss and I know his name (Dr Ruto).. I cannot confuse my boss and his friends. I am not that stupid, I know the difference” Mr Gachagua said.
“All this fight against and the accusation that I am a tribalist is because I have said Uhuru is our son and that we should unite. The mistake Uhuru did was to force former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on us..now that President Ruto has said Raila is a good man, does it make sense to continue enmity with the former president? No... I will bring Uhuru on board and unite our people,” he said.
