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For the first time since his removal from office, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has trained his guns on his successor, Kithure Kindiki, questioning his credentials to speak out against government’s excesses.

Rigathi Gachagua, who spoke during an interview with a local TV station, stated that unlike his election to the office of Deputy President alongside President William Ruto in 2022, his successor was merely handpicked to the position and could therefore not raise a finger when the government fails Kenyans.

 “…President says that I did not defend government programmes, he is right to a certain extent. I defended the ones that were above board and of public interest – the alcohol programme, the registration of farmers for fertiliser programme which I worked on to the last day, and coffee and tea reforms, but programmes with corruption issues and theft of public funds, I could not go and defend,” he said.

The former Mathira MP expressed his doubts whether Kindiki would muster the courage to advise the President on government projects that are likely to be unpopular among Kenyans.

“I was not an employee of President William Ruto, I was an employee of the people of Kenya. It was therefore right for me to fail to defend anything that is anti-people.” Gachagua stated.

Hurried roll-out

According to Gachagua, the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) was among the projects whose implementation he opposed. He said that the project was hurriedly rolled out with no public participation despite gobbling billions of taxpayers’ money. The former DP explained how the President made SHIF skip a critical stage of the cabinet committee that he chaired but took it to the cabinet.

He stated that the glitches being experienced in Sh104 billion SHIF would have been avoided if the government stuck to its initial plan to upgrade NHIF for Sh800 million to make it compliant with the new benefits that were being introduced.

“The thing (SHIF) is rushed and there is no adequate public participation because the views of the public are not being taken into account,” he emphasised.

Just like SHIF, Gachagua said that Ruto neither involved him during the signing of Adani deals nor was the issue brought before the cabinet sub-committees.

“I was opposed to it and in my private time, I told him that this is not right. It is a rip-off to the people of Kenya and it was not tenable,” he said.

He further stated that many Kenyans were opposed to the affordable housing scheme, yet Ruto went ahead to implement it despite his misgivings about the project.

Gachagua at the same time claimed that there was a plot to take his life during last week’s chaos at a funeral in Limuru. The former DP claimed that the attack was a well-planned plot by powerful people in government.

“The fact that there were no police officers and the withdrawal of my security detail a week before was a clear indication that some evil plan had been hatched,” Gachagua stated.

The funeral was disrupted mid-way after a group of armed goons stormed the dais where the DP was seated and started throwing chairs forcing the dignitaries to flee. According to the former DP, the forces behind the Limuru debacle also attempted a similar one in Murang’a two weeks during a music concert where he was denied an opportunity to address.

According to him, the family had requested for four uniformed police officers for the event but the request was turned down.