Gachagua’s Comments on International Duties Assigned to Prime CS were misinterpreted

By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Worth Noting:

• Each was trying to put his best foot forward in seeking the ear, eye and the hand of the President. But let the truth be told. The constitution of Kenya places Gachagua at the high pedestal.
• By virtue of being the principle assistant to the President, he is second-in-command. This unlike Mudavadi whose position is not entrenched in the constitution.
• A few days ago, the Deputy President was quoted as saying. It is true we have been seeing Prime CS making numerous foreign trips outside the country.  I’m sure you have noted this. He was being sent to represent President Ruto in some ceremonies.
• The latest trip was in Nigeria where he attended the swearing in ceremony of the newly elected President of country.

Since President William Ruto’s government came to power, a section of the mainstream media has been driving a narrative of a bad blood pitting Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua and Prime Cabinet Secretary (PCS) Musalia Mudavadi.

I do not want to focus much on these comments because there was no tangible evidence to support the claims.

Up to date, the duo’s demeanor and body language cast a picture of leaders who were working cordially and each understood well the role assigned to him by the President.

I remember Gachagua praising the President for giving each a well-defined specific duties during a retreat held in Nyanyuki.

The media is known to thrive in blowing and amplifying the real or imagined political disagreements. At a time, if real, it would be just a small difference.

Sometimes, the media would even play a role in setting a stage for these confrontations.

For Gachagua and Mudavadi, the impression created is that they were embroiled in a fight for political supremacy.

Each was trying to put his best foot forward in seeking the ear, eye and the hand of the President.

But let the truth be told. The constitution of Kenya places Gachagua at the high pedestal.

By virtue of being the principle assistant to the President, he is second-in-command. This unlike Mudavadi whose position is not entrenched in the constitution.

A few days ago, the Deputy President was quoted as saying.

It is true we have been seeing Prime CS making numerous foreign trips outside the country.  I’m sure you have noted this. He was being sent to represent President Ruto in some ceremonies.

The latest trip was in Nigeria where he attended the swearing in ceremony of the newly elected President of country.

Gachagua added: For the record, I want to make one thing clear.

This does not in any way mean that the President has sidelined me.

My working chemistry with my boss, President William Ruto, remains very cordial.

I had discussed matters related to these trips with him.

I requested him to disengage me from these trips and instead assigns me local duties. I, particularly, asked him to let me focus in the war against the illicit brews and bhang.

I’m; however, ready to make these trips if they were meant for resource mobilization.

Again, the media opted to twist and misinterpret his comments.

To me, the DP’s response did not mean he had a bone to pick with Prime CS or amount to derision of international duties assigned to him by the President.

Put yourself in Gachagua’s shoes. His haters have cooked stories that he was being sidelined by the head of state. How would you expect him to react?

Did you expect him to say the President was assigning Mudavadi these duties behind his back? As a second-in-command and in light of the impression created by the media, this is only option the DP had to rebuttal these claims of imagination.

By virtue of his position, Gachagua is poised to succeed President Ruto in 2032.

Rumors had it that Mudavadi was also eyeing the same position.

I want to repeat this. For now, these stories are being peddled around by the media.

We are yet to hear this from horse’s mouth. For President, he has been leaving nothing to chance in demonstrating he trust and have full confidence in his deputy.

I want to bring this to the attention of DP Gachagua.

The media has somehow succeeded in creating public perceptions that you had been sidelined by your boss.

My hope is that you have a powerful communication team that will undo this damage and set the record straight.

It will also help if you opt to go to some of these trips.

This will deflate claims made by some of Mudavadi’s allies.

I heard them saying these trips were important because they were meant to create linkages of friendship and partnership.

It is unfortunate that one of them went amok and stated. We hope the DP’s understanding of resource mobilization is not that he will bring proceeds of piracy.

Even though riding from the hype of the media, this person had gone to far. Could it turn out this person was enjoying the support of Mudavadi? For now, I have no answer. Only time will tell.

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi

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About the Author

Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi

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