Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- During the burial of freedom fighter Muthoni Kirima, Gachagua told him. Maina, I have heard you. You recognize me as DP and senior-most leader in Mount Kenya and want me to play a leading role in reconciling and uniting the Mountain. I want to tell you that I’m already doing this.
- However, a meeting between me and you is not granted for now. I want you to first denounce the violence.
- So whose interests is Kuria serving? As we know, Gachagua was being seen as posing a real threat to the leaders from other communities who were positioning themselves to succeed President William Ruto in 2032.
When I recently read the story titled ‘Gachagua: Isolated, Lonely Man’ published by The Weekly Citizen newspaper, the question that came to my mind is. Can we believe this story? I was persuaded to believe that it didn’t hold any water
Gachagua’s political detractors were behind these false stories and the ultimate goal was to portray him as a weak leader and in so doing, tries to get him out of the political equation of 2027 and 2032 polls respectively.
It is unfortunate to note that this card was being fronted by a section of the Kikuyu leaders.
I would not expect them to succeed. They had tried to play a similar card in the countdown to 2022 polls but Gachagua outmaneuvered them.
Kenya Kwanza Presidential candidate William Ruto finally settled on him as his running mate. Dr Ruto had made the right choice. Gachagua helped him to garner 87 percent of votes in Mount Kenya region. His detractors would not want this credit to go to him. This is borne out of sheer envy and malice.
Today, if you ask majority of Kikuyu, this is what they will tell you. Gachagua is the senior-most leader in our region and hence he is our kingpin. So, fellow Kikuyu leaders who were trying to create a wedge between him and President were wasting their time and were out for a rude shock.
Well, I recently heard Gachagua distancing himself from the tag of a kingpin. He averred, I have heard some people talking about kingpin. Where is this kingpin? Does this position exists in our constitution? Does the holder earn a salary? The answer is a big No.
So, I have no time for this baseless talk. My job is well defined in the constitution. I’m the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, not Mount Kenya region.
This was a wise move and many believed his eyes were trained on Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
In a post two days earlier, Kuria had stated in apparent reference to Britain’s King Charles 111 four-day state visit. Now that the King himself has left the country, the fake King will emerge.
Many believed Kuria was targeting Gachagua. A day later, Kuria was seen with the former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga. This again would be interpreted as continuation of Kuria’s onslaught against the DP.
As we know, Gachagua’s relationship with Njenga remains frosty.
During the burial of freedom fighter Muthoni Kirima, Gachagua told him. Maina, I have heard you. You recognize me as DP and senior-most leader in Mount Kenya and want me to play a leading role in reconciling and uniting the Mountain. I want to tell you that I’m already doing this.
However, a meeting between me and you is not granted for now. I want you to first denounce the violence.
So whose interests is Kuria serving? As we know, Gachagua was being seen as posing a real threat to the leaders from other communities who were positioning themselves to succeed President William Ruto in 2032.
Of course, the Luhya community is in fore front of this game plan. It was the time for their son to take over the mantle of leadership of this country.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi was the most favored candidate followed by the Speaker of National Assembly Moses Wetangula.
So, the leaders of this region were working very hard in trying to convince President Ruto to agree to pass the baton to one of them when the time comes. But the President had always steered clear of this issue.
Whenever he visited this region, he would tell the leaders to focus on development matters.
Kenyans gave us a job. Each one of us will be judged by the work that we have done.
Mostly, Kuria had been using social media to fire salvos at Gachagua. At a time, the mainstream media would also publish his bare knuckled attacks.
This is what comes to my mind. Kuria is a man on a mission and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was his main target.
He was out to derail and sabotage Gachagua’s plan and ambitions to inherit the mantle of Mount Kenya kingship from former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In the course of my interactions with a cross section of Kenyans, this is what majority of them would tell me.
Kuria have adopted a two-pronged strategy.
One of them is that he is eyeing the seat of Mountain kingpin and eventually become Ruto’s running mate in 2027. He knows that he is a lightweight and cannot make it it. So, this card is designed to deceive the Kikuyu community.
Gachagua is a wise man. He has always avoided responding to him; it was too early to do so.
This is not the first time that a section of Kikuyu leaders were being used to bring down thier leaders who stood a high chance of ascending to power and governing the nation of Kenya. I doubt this time the card will work. Majority of the elected leaders in the Mountain are behind Gachagua.
One of the card Kuria has been using is that of seeking public sympathies.
Listen to this. DP Gachagua was not championing the course of region. He would give example of himself by citing the recent cabinet shake-up that saw him moved from the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry to that of Public Service Delivery Management. He would also cite the woes facing Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza.
Referring to his matter, Kuria believed he had been demoted.
So, one can also interpret this to mean he also had a bone to pick with his boss, President William Ruto.
Kuria should bear this in mind. Gachagua had nothing to do with his demotion. The prerogative of shaking the cabinet lied squarely with the President.
The President had given Kuria a job. If he realizes that your performance is wanting. You are yet to fit in that shoe one year down the line, he has a right to give you lighter duties. This is by moving you to another docket. He can even sack you.
For now, many believe Kuria’s influence was only being felt in his home county of Kiambu and it has been waning.
Kikuyus had previously learnt big lessons. The importance of staying together and being united is central. With this, the government of the day will not shortchange them. It will listen to them and fulfill the pre-election promises.
So, this is my unsolicited advice to Kuria. You should tread carefully on this matter.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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