Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revealed how he and former Attorney General Justin Muturi switched off their phones to avoid calls from President William Ruto during the discussions on the controversial Finance Bill 2024.

Speaking during Justin Muturi’s book launch in Nairobi on Friday, November 7, 2025, Gachagua said that while serving on the Cabinet committees, debates on the Finance Bill 2024 were intense, with both him and Muturi opposing the bill.

He explained that the president would often send text messages instructing members on the position they should take during the discussions.

According to Gachagua, the president had tasked some of his close allies in the cabinet to keep him updated on the deliberations through text messages.

To avoid receiving such instructions or being influenced during the sessions, Gachagua and Muturi opted to switch off their phones whenever the Finance Bill was under discussion.

“So JB looked for me, and we agreed what to do, he and I. We will leave our phones away so Ruto cannot reach us. By the time he has been told what he wanted is not going the right way to the petition, then he has told you, I would say, “I raised the Finance Bill. Everybody, mkubwa hii ni mzuri,” JB stated

“I said, boss, this thing cannot be accepted by the people of Kenya and will have a fake egg on our office. Kenyans will not take this finance bill.” He added

Hailing JB

He went on to shower praises on JB Muturi, saying that it was only him and JB who could tell the President the truth while serving in Cabinet. Gachagua further stated that after he left the Cabinet upon his impeachment, he left JB Muturi as the only honest person who could face the President and speak the truth.

But after JB also left the Cabinet in an unprecedented way, following his replacement by Geoffrey Ruku, Gachagua said that there is nobody truthful left in the Cabinet. He described it as being filled with people who simply follow what the President says without question, labelling them as “yes people” and “flower girls”.