Ekuru Aukot: I don’t think Rigathi Gachagua is a truthful man
By Kiplagat Sang, February 6, 2025Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot has said former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is not being truthful in his criticism of the Kenya Kwanza government.
Gachagua, impeached and no longer holding a public office, has positioned himself as the truthful man as he turns into a chief critic of a government he helped form.
However, Aukot believes Gachagua and Cabinet Secretary Justin Muthuri are not honest men given their recent stance against the government.
Muturi has come out on a number of occasions to criticise the government over rising cases of reported abductions.
“Let me comment on Rigathi Gachagua. Rigathi Gachagua with JB Muturi, the former Attorney General, now the PS for Public Service, I think they are speaking some truth, but I also find them dishonest.
“There is a misnomer here. You cannot say, for example, that you are a truthful man, but when you are in office, you are told, ‘Go and lie to Kenyans,’ and then still claim that you are a truthful man.
“These two, being a truthful man and telling lies, cannot be in the same sentence. Whereas Rigathi Gachagua is now doing an expose on the rot in this government, he was part of that rot,” Aukot said during a morning show on a local TV station on Thursday, February 6, 2025.
Public apology
To Aukot, if Gachagua wants to be seen as a man telling the truth, he must first apologise for serving a government he now criticizes.
“To that extent, he needs to own up. I wish Rigathi Gachagua would have started with a public apology to the people. To say, you know, guys, thank you for having elected me as the Deputy President; however, I apologize we have been lying to you.
“But he has not said that. So I think Rigathi Gachagua is not a truthful man at all, even though he is saying things that somehow resonate with the thinking of Kenyans.
“This is just political theatrics,” he continued.
The legal scholar gave an instance that would have made Gachagua not speak while he was the DP but went ahead and stated the former Mathira Member of Parliament should have resigned if he indeed disagreed with the government.
“I also believe he may have been tied with what is called collective responsibility in the cabinet; maybe he was gagged by the idea of collective responsibility. However, there is the principle of resignation.
“If you do not agree with some decisions of the government, do not stay there and keep misleading the public here. Although he is saying things that Kenyans agree with him on, why did Rigathi Gachagua not resign?” he quipped.