The Mt Kenya Times 
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his spouse Pastor Dorcas in Bavaria, Germany
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- President William Ruto had early in the year assigned DP Gachagua the role of spearheading the coffee reforms. This is after seeing his passion in fighting for the rights of the Kenyan farmers. Addressing the plight of the farmers stood out as one of the duo’s pre-election pledges.
- Besides Coffee, the DP has made great strides in championing the course of the tea and milk farmers. His ultimate goal is to see the farmers reaping maximum profits from their sweat.
- My job is not only confined to the three crops, I’m committed to see the farmers in other sub-sectors in all parts of the country putting monies in their pockets, the DP was once quoted saying.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua concluded his trip to Belgium and Germany a few days ago.
Contrary to the impression created by his critics that he had been sent away at a time when Britain’s King Charles 111 and his wife, Queen Camilla were making a historic state visit in Kenya, he returned before the King wrapped up his visit. He had a one-on-one talk with him.
In Belgium he was representing President William Ruto at a Global Gateway Forum.
On the sidelines of forum, he signed a number of agreements and deals designed to boost the bottom up transformation agenda of President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government.
The forum had been organized by the European Commission (EU).
The talks between the President of the 27 member bloc and Gachagua bore the biggest fruit. The EU agreed to grant Kenya Sh115 billion. The money will go to the priority projects under green transition-enviromental sustainability and resilience.
The forum sought to enhance and strengthen ties with the countries that embrace and promote the ideals of democracy, good governance and economic empowerment of the citizenry.
Before flying out, Gachagua was upbeat that this visit will give him an opportunity to interact with key international players in the coffee industry.
He managed to secure lucrative deals.
The renowned Java Coffee Company agreed to buy a bulky of Kenyan coffee directly from the farmers. They will start by buying 10,000 bags which is equivalent to 700 tonnes
He also managed to reach out to the new buyers and convinced them to buy our coffee.
The DP also held talks with Chief Executives of the companies involved in coffee roasting and value additions.
President William Ruto had early in the year assigned DP Gachagua the role of spearheading the coffee reforms. This is after seeing his passion in fighting for the rights of the Kenyan farmers. Addressing the plight of the farmers stood out as one of the duo’s pre-election pledges.
Besides Coffee, the DP has made great strides in championing the course of the tea and milk farmers. His ultimate goal is to see the farmers reaping maximum profits from their sweat.
My job is not only confined to the three crops, I’m committed to see the farmers in other sub-sectors in all parts of the country putting monies in their pockets, the DP was once quoted saying.
It is noting that Gachagua’s latest visit to Belgium comes just a few months after he made a similar trip to Bogota Colombia.
Being one of those listed to make a key-note address, he ably articulated Kenya’s agenda at the Global Coffee Producers and Roaster Forum.
Listen to what he said in Bogota. Our coffee is the best in the world. It is tasty and of high quality.
We grow a lot of coffee in both small and high scale farming.
On the sidelines, the DP met and held talks with the Chief Executives of the world’s leading coffee buying companies. He also met heads of the firms involved in coffee roasting and value addition.
Just like in Belgium and Germany, he had brokered lucrative agreements and deals.
The chief Executives had agreed to dispatch their teams to come and share their experiences with Kenyan roasters as well as offering them some training. This move will help the value of our coffee to go up.
The Gachagua was privy to the fact that Ethiopia was our main competitor in this region.
In Bogota, Gachagua took the opportunity to market Kenya as a tourism destination.
Kenya is the home to all breeds and species of the wild animals. We leads and others follow.
Feel free to visit us and watch these famous animals.
We love visitors. Kenya hakuna matatu.
The DP cited tigers as some of the species. His critics in Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition and their sympathizers would pick this to renew their onslaught against him.
The DP did not know what he was ‘doing and saying’ in Colombia.
In Kenya, we have leopards. He does not know the difference between leopards and tigers.
To me, these attacks were cheap and raw.
We know the two animals comes from same family of carnivorous.
The DP sought to clarity what he meant a few days after jetted back to the country.
He rightly stated that he comes from the mountain and in a community that does not differentiate between the wild animals.
When you mention a tiger, my community think that you are talking about leopard and visa versa.
For me, this once again demonstrated that the critics were in a state of desperation. This is because their previous efforts to maliciously portray Gachagua as a weak leader and put him into a collision course with the President had failed to bear fruits.
This explains why they would not see anything positive he did in Colombia. Instead they would pick a petty issue of the animals.
Gachagua deserves to be commended for having showcased Kenya as tourist destination.
He was fully aware that tourism is the second foreign exchange earners after the Agriculture which is the backbone of our economy.
So, all Gachagua’s activities were aimed at boosting the growth of the Kenyan economy. Kenyans got value of their money in this trip.
For Azimio leadership, I urge them to look for something else. The politics around the wild animals have fell flat.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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