Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua kneels to pray at the Methodist Church in Kenya, All Saints, Kinoru, Meru County, on September 29, 2024.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who is facing a looming impeachment, has called Kenyans to pray for his boss, President William Ruto, and all leaders to lower the political temperatures and shift their focus to work.
"Continue praying for the country, the government, the president and all leaders. I hope that sanity will prevail and we tone down on politics of division, politics of pulling others down and focus on working for Kenyans because we were elected just two years ago and we are yet to do the work that we were given by Kenyans," Mr Gachagua said after Sunday service at Methodist Church in Kenya All Saints Church - Kinoru, Meru County.
He called on those planning to kick him out of Kenya Kwanza administration to respect the will of Kenyans in the 2022 General Election and focus on serving them.
"Let us lower political temperatures and work together for Kenyans. They elected us with a lot of hope that we will turn around the situation for the better. They did not elect us to fight, humiliate or pull each other down. That is my prayer," he stated.
Urging politicians to refrain from high-octane politics and respect elected leaders, Mr Gachagua highlighted that "the will of the people is supreme" and should not be overturned through other methods.
"As we do whatever we are doing in the political space, it is my prayer that we should respect the will of the people. The will of the people is supreme. Elections were done and the President and I were elected on a joint ticket for five years; that was the will of the people. Let us not fall into the temptation of overturning the will of the people through other methods because Kenyans will not be happy," he said.
"Let us all agree that the tenets of democracy say that we respect the will of the people because it is supreme".
The deputy president further stated that he would continue being truthful and asked other leaders to do the same.
"At all times let us pray to God to give us wisdom and courage to be able to do good all the time, especially courage to speak the truth. All the political troubles you may see me going through is because of speaking the truth. I did not know many people have a problem with the truth. We will continue standing with the truth because that is what God wants," he added.
He was accompanied by leaders including Kiambu Senator Karungo Wa Thang'wa, Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu, Kirinyaga Woman Njeri Maina, Kangema MP Peter Kihungi, Juja MP George Koimburi, former Laikipia County Woman Representative Cate Waruguru, MCAs, among others.
This came as a section of the Kikuyu community in Nairobi County called on the deputy president to stop the politics of tribalism, which they said, was not good for their businesses.
Led by Nairobi Nominated MCA Cecilia Wairimu, the group said they had nowhere else to call home but Nairobi and that they do not subscribe to Mr Gachagu's ideas of protecting the Mt Kenya region.
“We don’t understand what they mean when they say Mt Kenya. We cannot be included in the politics of Mt Kenya during the election periods and be left out when it comes to government positions,” Ms Wairimu said.
They challenged the self-declared ‘truthful man’ to work with President Ruto instead of starting early campaigns.
“We don’t want to be reminded of what happened during the 2007/2008 post-election violence. Our people suffered and we don’t want tribalism here. Mt Kenya is not here, and we don’t want to be antagonised with other communities. We recognise Ruto as our president and we’re not ready to fight him now.”
The group’s organising secretary Abdalla Karenjo said that the people from Mt Kenya had established businesses across the country, which would only be protected if the county is united.
“We don’t want violence in the country because if you keenly have a look at the parcels of lands in the central region, we don’t have enough land to settle in, that is why we are all over and we have been welcomed by other tribes,” Mr Karenjo said.
The business community asked politicians who are already on the 2027 campaign mode to help Kenyans in lowering the cost of living.
According to them, the deputy president, who has proclaimed himself as the spokesperson of Mt Kenya people, did not consider them to fill any position during the appointments which were made by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“When Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and the rest were being named, he (Gachagua) did not consider Kikuyus in Nairobi. We only saw them picked from Murang’a, Kiambu and Nyeri. We are saying no to his campaigns,” Mr Francis Mbichi said.
