Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addresses the faithful at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Endarasha, Nyeri County, on May 19, 2024.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has indicated that he will accept his fate if MPs decide to impeach him.
Speaking to local radio stations on Monday night, the deputy president said he has no power to influence the MPs who have already signed a petition to send him home.
“I’m just a weak man and I’m in the hands of Members of Parliament and senators. I will accept their decision together with my people,” Mr Gachagua said.
However, he has claimed that it would be unfair for him to be impeached by about 200 MPs, yet he and President William Ruto were elected by around seven million voters on the same ticket.
“We were elected by 7.2 million Kenyans. It is a surprise to hear that about 200 MPs want to say that the leader who was elected by Kenyans is no longer needed.”
Mr Gachagua has reiterated that he will not wish to disrupt parliamentary proceedings when the motion to impeach him is tabled.
His prayer for the lawmakers is that they should involve Kenyans in the matter since they are the ones who voted for him and the President to lead the country.
“I’m not trying to stop MPs from doing what they want, they are at liberty to do what they want. My only prayer to them is that they should involve Kenyans through public participation. Let them go to Bomet and ask them if they want to send me home.”
The DP has expressed fears that the Kenya Kwanza manifesto is in limbo, claiming that the plans they had for electricity, water and the rest will not be achieved if the ongoing debate about him continues.
“I and the President were mandated by Kenyans to lead this country for five years, and the MPs were also elected to the Parliament. It is sad to see that the promises which were made to Kenyans would not be accomplished. Kenyans are not interested in my impeachment and from what I hear from them, they want to see us working for them.”
On the allegations of being linked with the recent anti-government demonstrations, the Deputy President said that it is a witch-hunt to harm his reputation among supporters from the Rift Valley.
“Kenyans were here during demonstrations, no one doesn’t know the issues of Gen Zs. It is a mistake to try to associate me with the Gen Z protests, that is their plan to taint my name from my supporters in the Rift Valley and the best issue that they could pick is to link me with the demonstrations.”
He has asked the MPs from the Rift Valley region to think twice before signing to impeach him, saying that they cannot afford to betray the trust that was accorded to them by Mt Kenya voters during the last election.
“If you betray the community that has held your hands, if you betray the deputy president who moved across the country, the man who was arrested, and his property confiscated, tortured before his wife and the children. If your MPs would be leading in sending him home, to crucify him like Jesus, who would trust you going forward after President William Ruto has served his ten years?
Mr Gachagua claimed that his decision to support the President was enough reason to stop MPs from Rift Valley from voting him out.
“Majority of MPs from the Rift Valley have called me and assured me that they are praying for me,” he said.
