Joseph Mutua Ndonga
A day after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua hit out at President William Ruto while daring him to inform the people of Mount Kenya whether he will need their votes, the DP seemed to have dropped the hardline stance when he attended a church service in Meru.
The DP asked the clergy to pray for the president so that God would guide and give him wisdom of continuing to take this country in the right direction.
He reiterated his commitment to continue helping the president fulfill his promises to the people of Kenya.
One day earlier, during a tour of Mount Kenya East, the DP minced no word in claiming that President William Ruto was behind his woes.
President Ruto and I ran on the same ticket, and we were elected by the people of Kenya.
The people of the mountain who elected me to the last man and woman are not happy when they see being harassed and mistreated.
Dr. Ruto got a huge chunk of votes from this region, and Gachagua believes he is the one who mobilized and convinced the locals to vote for him.
But there are leaders from this region who do not share this position.
They believe Ruto had endeared himself to the masses, and so he was poised to win no matter who he picked from this vote-rich region as his running mate.
During DP’s tour of the East, a Kirinyaga women representative took a cue from him, vowing that Gachagua would not go down alone.
If this happens, we will ensure President Ruto faces the same fate.
Gachagua further told the charged crowd in Kirinyaga County.
I’m here to confirm to you that President Ruto is mobilizing his troops in parliament to impeach me.
I have not committed any crime, but they want me impeached because of speaking the truth and fighting for your interests.
It is worth noting that since the talk of impeaching Gachagua started, President Ruto has never commented about this matter.
Whenever they shared the same podium, Dr. Ruto always recognized and appreciated the presence of his deputy.
The DP would also take that opportunity to shower the head of state with praises and accolades.
It is therefore clear that so far we have only heard one side of the story.
Many Kenyans averred that Gachagua believes he is a heartbeat away from the presidency.
He was therefore leaving nothing to chance in ensuring his high-level ambitions to succeed President Ruto in the 2032 polls bear fruit.
In light of this, one could argue that this is the main reason why he was targeting his boss. As such, his remarks and statements were mainly informed by politics.
We know this fight started to rear an ugly head after President Ruto extended an olive branch to Raila Odinga, the leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
It is worth noting that Gachagua was fiercely opposed to this political union that saw five senior ODM leaders incorporated into the Kenya Kwanza government.
The DP’s fear is that Ruto-Raila camaraderie would shut down his dreams.
The DP has been employing a cocktail of strategies, and one of them is to create a wedge between the President and the people of the Mount Kenya region.
He hopes this will force the president to rethink his stand and cut links with Raila.
This will herald in arm-twisting President Ruto to return him (DP) back to the inner circle of the government.
Notably, the President has nothing to do with the impeachment of the Deputy President.
The provisions of the Constitution of 2010 were very clear. Parliament is exclusively vested with this power. Any member of the house was free to move a motion of impeachment against DP. The onus to prove whether the grounds met the requisite thresholds lies with him.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga Is A Writer And Social Commentator Based In Nairobi
