Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has publicly apologised to former president Uhuru Kenyatta, stating that he had been wrong for faulting him in the run-up to the 2022 general elections.

Gachagua, who also admitted that Uhuru is still the undisputed king of the Mount Kenya region, indicated that he had reached out to Uhuru on behalf of the community to convey his apologies.

“Now that Ruto has said that Raila is a good man, is why I apologise to Uhuru Kenyatta and his family; I owe him an apology on behalf of the community because what he had told us is what the president has told us,” Gachagua said.

Gachagua says Mt Kenya region voters had been deceived that Raila Odinga, whom Uhuru supported during the last election, was a bad person unworthy of serving in government, but it had turned out otherwise.

“If two presidents say a man is good, who are you to argue with them? So we have said Raila Odinga is a good man, so let’s work with him,” Gachagua said during a televised interview on Friday, September 20, 2024.

Adding: “What the people are saying, and it’s very interesting, is that a Mt Kenya king does not pronounce himself twice on a matter. Our son Uhuru Kenyatta had pronounced himself on this matter, so that pronouncement carries the day. As we stand today, me and the mountain people are quite happy with Raila Odinga.”

The deputy president, however, narrated that he underwent political humiliation for standing together with Ruto during the election period.

He regretted his actions against Uhuru, stating that he had been correct all along in endorsing Raila as a statesman.

“Myself and the mountain people feel very bad that we punished Uhuru Kenyatta; we demeaned him and told him off for telling us that Raila is a good man; it has come to our knowledge that it was very unfair because his (Uhuru) crime was to tell us that Raila was a good man, and we decided that Raila was a bad man and that Ruto was the good man,” Gachagua observed.

Asked about his relationship with the former president, Gachagua said he had a good rapport with Uhuru, noting that he had mended fences after realising his mistakes.

Gachagua is facing opposition in the Mt Kenya region, with factions of legislators and community leaders having declared their allegiance to the Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Kithure Kindiki.

Among the accusations Gachagua’s detractors have levelled against him are tribal politics, incompetence, and the inability to break down government policy to the masses.

Gachagua has, however, called on Ruto to intervene in his troubles by calling for a parliamentary group meeting to quell the political temperatures.