President William Ruto (left) and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua may find himself in a tight spot while carrying out his mandate as the principal assistant to the President if he survives impeachment.
Should he fail to find favour in Parliament, Mr Gachagua still has the courts as his last line of defence in his fight to remain in office.
But assuming he lost in Parliament and got a reprieve from the courts, how would he relate with members of Parliament who would have declared he is unfit to hold office? How will he relate with some of his Cabinet colleagues who have openly sided with his critics? And how about his boss, President William Ruto, who has maintained a studious silence even after his deputy blamed him for his woes?
Two Cabinet secretaries—Labour’s Alfred Mutua and his Environment counterpart Aden Duale—have made comments bordering on support for the DP's ouster. Mr Duale took a swipe at the DP on Monday, October 7, describing his defence in the media as unfortunate.
“Despite the show tonight, tomorrow we will know the truth in black and white. It is rather unfortunate that a person who became Deputy President by virtue of being nominated by the President as his running mate, is beating his chest that he was elected by 7.2 million Kenyans,” said Mr Duale.
Dr Mutua has also spoken in support of Mr Gachagua’s impeachment motion. The CS, who was personally present at the Machakos Social Hall during the public participation in the motion, supported Mr Gachagua’s impeachment.
“Those elected should be able to serve all Kenyans. When I was elected as Machakos governor, I never said I won’t take resources, water, roads or schools, in some parts of the county because they never voted for me,” he said.
“So to say that development in Kenya should be implemented according to vote share is total brutality,” he added.
At the same time, Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau was among those lined up to testify against Mr Gachagua. She was expected to give evidence in her capacity as the custodian of Cabinet resolutions and policy positions.
In her affidavit, Ms Wanjau said that on April 30, the Cabinet adopted a resolution on the revitalisation of Nairobi’s rivers and flood mitigation and circulated it to relevant Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and government agencies, including the Office of the DP, for implementation.
The DP's office and the CSs for Interior, Environment, Public Health, National Treasury and Lands, the Attorney General and relevant ministries, departments and agencies were to take appropriate action.
However, the DP defied the directive and on Monday said he could not preside over the demolition of people's homes and evictions, saying it was against the promise he had made to the people.
“If I am to be impeached for refusing to preside over the eviction of people, then so be it,” Mr Gachagua said.
Read: A cornered Gachagua
On several occasions during Monday’s media interview, Mr Gachagua took swipes at his boss. For example, on the accusation of reprimanding the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service, the DP said he was just learning from his boss who during his tenure with Uhuru Kenyatta, also attacked the Inspector-General and Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
“The Deputy President called for the resignation of the then Inspector-General and Directorate of Criminal Investigations, I am just learning from my boss,” Mr Gachagua said.
Asked on Monday whether the impeachment motion could be tabled in Parliament without the President’s nod, Mr Gachagua said it’s true that it has his (President’s) nod.
Mr Gachagua defended himself against accusations of being tribal when talking about shares in the Kenya Kwanza government, saying it was President Ruto who signed power-sharing agreements with Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula and his Senate counterpart Amason Kingi.
“I am accused of being tribal when I talk about sharing but it is my boss President Ruto who signed power sharing agreements with Mudavadi, Wetang'ula and Kingi,” Mr Gachagua said.
Mr Gachagua also urged Parliament to focus on issues such as the planned lease of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Adani and corruption in the health sector.
Tharaka MP George Murugara said it would be untenable for the DP to continue in office if he survived the impeachment motion.
“Where will he work? He cannot work with the President because he said this motion is sponsored by the President. We did not have a PG (Parliamentary Group meeting) to take a common position,” said Mr Murugara.
Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo said it was clear from the media interview the DP gave that he could no longer work with the President.
“If you can insubordinate the boss, then if one person has to go, it’s the subordinate who has to go and not the boss,” Mr Amollo said.
Mr Wetang'ula criticised the DP for deciding to pursue his case in the media.
“Allow me to put it on record that the conduct was, to say the least, despicable and unconscionable in the light of the proceedings that were to commence in the House,” he said.
