Gone Too Soon: Rigathi Gachagua’s and President Ruto’s Honeymoon Over Too Soon
In an explosive interview, Rigathi Gachagua, alias ‘Riggy G’, lamented having been kicked to the curb too soon
The honeymoon between Kenyan Vice President, Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto has ended too soon. The two, previously ‘lovebirds’ as they traversed the country campaigning for most of Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime, are now at loggerheads. In an explosive interview, Rigathi Gachagua, alias ‘Riggy G’, lamented having been kicked to the curb too soon.
Ruto-Rigathi Honeymoon Gone Too Soon
In a first in Kenya’s political history, President Ruto has fallen out with his VP, Gachagua in just under two years. The president and his vocal VP are now reading from two scripts, with Rigathi lamenting that he has become a pariah in the government he helped form.
David Mania
Riggy G: We Did Not Sign an MoU with President Ruto
Speaking on Citizen TV, on Friday 20th September 2024, the Vice President poured his heart out lamenting that the President's political henchmen are plotting to impeach him. Gachagua expressed he had not signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with the president before agreeing to be his running mate for the 2022 General Elections.
Gachagua expressed regret for not doing so, saying that everyone else that decamped their political ships to join Ruto has an MoU with the president, as insurance for their promised perks. Gachagua named Alfred Mutua, Musalia Mudavadi, and Speaker Moses Wetangula as having penned a deal with the President as insurance for their supporting him to becoming President two years ago. Gachagua also remarked that he is too "trusting" and only has a "gentleman's agreement" with the president.
VP Gachagua Regrets Mistreating Former President Uhuru Kenyatta
Beyond his regret for not signing an MoU with Ruto, VP Gachagua also expressed his regret for mistreating former President, Uhuru Kenyatta. Gachagua said that ‘the people of Mt. Kenya’ made a mistake not to listen to the former president after he expressed his support for former PM Raila Odinga in the 2022 elections and not his then Deputy President, William Ruto.
David Mania
Rigathi Gachagua said that he regrets being part of those who disregarded Uhuru’s advice and shared that he had apologized to Kenyatta in "an apology letter" that he wrote to him on his behalf, and "on behalf of the Kikuyu people".
“I Do Not Attend the President's Meetings Because I Was Locked Out of the President's Diary/WhatsApp Page” - Vice President Rigathi Gachagua
VP Gachagua also revealed that he had been locked out of the President's Diary, on a WhatsApp group, comprising senior figures in Ruto’s government. As a result, Gachagua said, he has been in the dark about, the President's movements and could not attend Ruto's meetings as together with him, his private secretary and chief of staff had been removed from the WhatsApp group.
“I Helped Get Johnson Sakaja Elected as Nairobi Country Governor,” Says VP Gachagua as He Goes on a Heads-on Collision with Sakaja
VP Gachagua also revealed that he had “helped [Johnson] Sakaja get elected as Nairobi Governor but now the governor is calling him a ‘tribalist’. Gachagua said that the traders of a Nairobi market, Marikiti, had called upon him to defend them against the county's onslaught to get them to relocate from the market to the Kangundo Market.
The VP shared that he was told that most of the traders are from his tribe and that's why he is defending them. He shared that while campaigning for Sakaja, he had freely used his local language, Kikuyu to communicate with traders, and he did the same on Friday (when he met the traders) and it does not make him a “tribalist” or a “tribal leader”.
On his part, Governor Sakaja pulled no punches while addressing the matter yesterday, thanking the VP for his support during the 2022 elections but reiterating that "Gachagua was not campaigning for Sakaja to become the governor of Nairobi himself". Sakaja was adamant that no one should expect the county of Nairobi to be ceded to the national government and that no one would run the capital city county in his stead.
VP Gachagua Pleads with President Ruto to Call Off His MPs
The Vice President also pleaded with President Ruto to call off his MPs saying that an impeachment motion could only reach the floor of Parliament if the President approved it. Gachagua expressed bitterness at his folly treatment saying that it has also affected his family as they “cannot believe this is happening to me after I got the President elected”.
Gachagua said that he regrets not forming a party, or signing an MoU, in negotiations with the President for his political support. Gachagua pleaded with his “boss”, the president to call off his MPs and end the “disrespect” he is facing from his party's, UDAs MPs.
It is all about 2027. Nothing else.
— Kimani Ichung’wah (@KIMANIICHUNGWAH) September 21, 2024
The tribal vitriol, ethnic undertones , veiled threats of instability. The man has tasted power, he is now power HUNGRY and blinded by GREED
At the head of the onslaught against Rigathi is Kikuyu MP, Kimani Ichung’wa who recently urged the president to “get rid of the snake from your hand” referring to VP Gachagua. Ichung'wa has repeatedly accused Gachagua of being tribalistic and trying to divide the nation on tribal lines.
Gachagua on Getting A Dose of His Own Medicine: I know the Office of the Vice President has a “Jinx”
Vice President Gachagua may act like the victim but he is now getting a dose of his own medicine, the injection a VP gets when they become too vocal. VP Gachagua recognized that the office of the VP has a “jinx” but he expressed disbelief that President Ruto would treat him the same way he was being treated while he was Uhuru's Vice President.
VP Gachagua pleaded with the president to “let me work” for the 5 years saying that he is facing "even worse treatment in his being in office for just a single year than what Ruto suffered for the entire 10-year term". The VP pleaded with the president to let him work as he had been "let to perform his VP duties for at least 5 years" before he [Ruto] fell out with Uhuru Kenyatta in 2016.
On Raila, the VP said that he and the people of the "murima" (mountain) had made a mistake by opposing Uhuru's message that Raila would have made a good president.
David Mania
Watch Vice President Rigathi Gachagua's Interview on Citizen TV
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