Salasya calls out Gachagua over remarks on Somali community
By Cynthia Lodite, January 31, 2026Mumias East Member of Parliament Peter Salasya has called out Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over past remarks aganist Somali Community.
Taking to his official X account on Saturday, January 31, 2026, Salasaya accused Gachagua of trying to salvage his image by pulling tribal cards.
“Trying to salvage your image on your useless tribal card politics when you attacked children from Somali land not to school in Mangu Alliance Starehe etc wont help you, if you could be doing good politics hii stress hungepata boss,” Salasya said.
He went on to describe Gachagua as a hypocrite, explaining that during his two-year service as Deputy President, at no point did he show up at the State Department of Devolution to express challenges faced by the assailed communities.
“You were a deputy president, H.E. Rigathi Gachagua, EGH, for two years, heading the state department of devolution, reporting to my committee on regional development by then, where these special programmes in hardship areas are done, but not a single day you came to our committee and address this challenges of assailed communities,” he added.
“Remember, one constituency in Northern Kenya is equivalent to 3 times the entire central province. You are not asaint to keep on attacking the Somali community without understanding the real challenges in the region,” he said.
Rigathi begs aid to Somali residents
Salasya’s remarks come moments after Gachagua had called on the government to urgently declare the ongoing drought in North Eastern Kenya a national disaster and mobilise resources to avert further loss of life as humanitarian conditions deteriorate across the region.
In a post on X dated January 31, 2026, Gachagua described the situation as a failure of leadership and accountability, warning that the crisis had reached alarming levels.
“Leadership is not a privilege granted for personal gain; it is a sacred responsibility entrusted for the protection of human life and dignity,” he wrote.
He said conditions had worsened to the point that even camels, animals adapted to survive extreme environments, were dying from thirst and hunger.
“If this is the fate of such resilient and adaptable creatures, what hope remains for human beings in the region?” Gachagua asked.
He further highlighted the plight of vulnerable groups, noting that orphans were going hungry, widows were suffering in silence, and the sick were unable to access basic medical care due to neglect by those entrusted with leadership responsibilities.