Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has asked state agencies to stop correcting Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in public.
Cherargei cited a statement by Kenya Airways (KQ) on Wednesday, October 4, where the airline said it is not under ‘state capture’ as stated by the DP Gachagua.
Moreover, the senator agreed with DP Gachagua’s argument, adding that there is a leadership problem in the institution.
“Kenya kwanza manifesto of revamping KQ highlighted leadership problems & high operational costs, the government should do institutional audit of KQ without Chair Michael Joseph & his team, Dp Gachagua was right state capture is real,” Cherargei tweeted.
Similarly, the Nandi senator also referred to a case where the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) corrected the deputy president’s claim that the country lacks enough foreign exchange reserves.
“State agencies stop correcting DP in public! It is bad manners & insubordination towards the presidency. From Central Bank of Kenya, Director of Criminal Investigation to now KQ,” Cherargei added.
The said state institutions released statements correcting Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s remarks after an interview on Citizen TV on October 2.
“We have had discussions with Kenya Airways, and they have the highest fares on the continent and their planes are always full, but they make losses. We are trying to deal with that State capture so that we can bring down the cost of the operations of the airline so that they can make profits.” DP Gachagua said.
Nonetheless, KQ’s Chairman Michael Joseph via a statement said the airline is a publicly listed company with the Government of Kenya as the majority shareholder.
While dismissing DP Gachagua’s claims, Joseph stated that they were paying above market rate fees for services offered to the airline. He also added that KQ Board and Management have been engaging with the lessors to reduce the overall costs of aircraft lease rentals.
Furthermore, while mentioning CBK, the deputy president said that they lacked enough foreign exchange reserves to import oil.
Also Read: CBK to Gachagua – We Don’t Do Private Transactions
“We have lacked foreign exchange, even yesterday there was no enough forex at Central Bank to buy oil from foreign countries,” he said.
Nonetheless, in a rejoinder, CBK corrected the statement, saying; they do not supply foreign exchange for transactions other than for the National Government (i.e., government’s own imports or debt service payments) or CBK’s operations. Oil importers, therefore, obtain their requisite foreign exchange from the commercial banks and not CBK.
