Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga has claimed that President William Ruto is setting up his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, for failure in the future.
In an interview, Kahiga said President Ruto is deliberately underfunding the programs he assigned Gachagua.
The governor gave an example of the coffee sector, highlighting the coffee reforms saying that the government has allocated only Ksh4 million for the project.
“The president himself delegated the responsibility of coffee reforms to the DP in his office. If you check today’s budget, there is only Ksh4 million allocated to that function. What is he expected to do with that? He is only being set up for failure,” Kahiga said.
He reasoned that the government has set up Ksh6.9 billion to pay debts to comfort the Mt. Kenya region, but the same people are fighting Gachagua’s office.
“Everything is being done to ensure that the DP’s office is not working as it should. We have read in the papers that even his budget has been cut. This is not what we expect,” he said.
Ruto Allows his Allies Disrespect Gachagua
Kahiga maintained that a section of Ruto’s allies are working to destabilize Gachagua and confuse the Mt. Kenya region. The governor said the leaders are propping up some young politicians and even offering money to achieve their goal.
“They are spending up to Ksh10 million per week to try and destabilize the DP and the mountain,” he said.
Besides, he accused President Ruto of not being in control and allowing his juniors to disrespect his deputy.
Kahiga maintained that it is the role of the president to defend the office of the DP from attacks by Kenya Kwanza politicians.
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“The problem lies in that the president is not taking charge. He is the president and whoever is going through this trouble is his deputy. It’s upon him to defend that office,” he said.
The governor said Ruto has been in Gachagua’s position before and knows how it feels to be sidelined, harassed, and denied rights.
He claimed that Ruto could be warning his allies to stop attacking the DP while publicly supporting them in private.
“We hear him once say, ‘Please respect the DP,’ then two days later we see the same people walking around disparaging the DP, yet the president himself spoke and asked them to respect the DP. What that tells me as an intelligent person is that he could be saying one thing in public and a different thing in private,” Kahiga said.
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Saving Mt Kenya
The Nyeri Governor explained that Gachagua and his allies are trying to save the Kenya Kwanza government by creating a better working relationship.
He emphasized that the DP is working to bring the 13% of Mt. Kenya which did not vote for President Ruto in the 2022 elections to allow him to serve for two terms.
“We struggled to put this government in office. It hurts when I see people who didn’t contribute to the fight to get this new government are the people working hard to drive a wedge between the DP and the president,” he said.
However, he said the DP and his boss have a working relationship and a job to do. Kahiga said the two must not like each other but must work to deliver a better agenda for the people of Kenya.
“Let the DP do his role, which is to support the president, work for him, deputize him, and ensure that all the programs given to him by the president are fulfilled,” Kahiga said.
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