Opiyo Wandayi tells off DP Gachagua over NIS comment
National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi.
National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi has told off Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over his statement on failures of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) saying the comment poses a risk to national security.
Mr Wandayi called on President William Ruto to put his house in order and save the country from further disintegration and ridicule.
He termed as strange for the DP to publicly undermine the critical security agency at a time when the country was facing both internal and external security threats.
"Mr Gachagua should live up to the oath he took when he was sworn into office and stop the reckless outbursts in order to realise a peaceful and cohesive country.
"As a deputy party leader of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), they can have their squabbles for as much as they want. They should however spare the country the shame and not to jeopardise national security," he said during a press conference in Kisumu on Friday.
At the peak of this week’s deadly street protests over the infamous tax hike bill, DP Gachagua laid blame on the head of NIS Noordin Haji for alleged intelligence failures leading to the protests and loss of lives and mayhem.
But the Ugunja lawmaker reiterated that the Deputy President cannot exonerate himself from blame since he also sits at the National Security Council.
Mr Wandayi noted that NIS, National Police Service and Kenya Defence Forces are the country's three key security organs that play critical roles in the maintenance of peace and national security.
To get out of the current quagmire, Mr Wandayi called on President Ruto to demonstrate commitment and good faith and fastrack the implementation of the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report which has been pending.
"It is ironic that the president declared his willingness to engage the youthful protestors against the tax hikes in another dialogue when he has only implemented one out of nine recommendations of the Nadco report, " he said
He pointed out that only the IEBC Amendment Bill has been presented before Parliament while others are yet to be discharged.
The bill is among the proposed legislations that accompanied the Nadco report negotiated between President Ruto and opposition chief Raila Odinga’s teams.
The nine bills are some of the key recommendations of the Nadco team that met in Bomas following a ceasefire deal between President Ruto and Mr Odinga.
It was formed after prolonged street protests by Mr Odinga-led Azimio to iron out issues raised by members of the opposition and those the government said were important to them.
A report by the team has since been endorsed by parliament, with bills being drafted from it and are expected to be drafted by various parliamentary committees.
