By S, KNA
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has spilled the beans on what he said led to the impeachment of his predecessor Rigathi Gachagua, terming the act as self-inflicted.
Speaking on Thursday at a campaign rally for Mbeere North UDA candidate Leonard Muthende in the upcoming by-election, Kindiki said Gachagua’s ouster was of his own making after he started picking fights with his boss President William Ruto immediately after taking office in 2022.
Kindiki said Gachagua failed to toe the line and started playing equal to the President instead of assuming his role as his principal assistant.
He added that Gachagua also started intimidating and undermining other elected leaders specifically in Mt. Kenya region, projecting himself as the undisputed kingpin leading to a fallout and his eventual ouster.
“What befell him was self-inflicted and had nothing to do with the President,” he said, adding that he personally talked to him to stop the supremacy battles with the President.
The DP added, “I advised him to go slow until the President secures a second term in office and then he could proceed to start charting his own political course.”
At the same time, the DP rallied locals to support Muthende, saying he was better placed to advance the interests of the area residents.
He also took on a reconciliatory tone, saying he was ready to embrace and work with the candidates who will lose the contest.
“This election is about the people of Mbeere North and we respect all the contestants and I am ready to sit with them to see how we can support them going forward,” he said.
Other leaders present included Public Service CS, Geoffrey Ruku, Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire and Senator Alexander Mundigi, accused Gachagua of buying National Identity Cards from voters in the UDA strongholds.
“They have resulted to desperate schemes of buying IDs in our strongholds after sensing defeat and we are telling them it won’t be possible to subvert the will of the people,” he said.
He said they had alerted detectives as well as local administrators over the matter as they also cautioned voters not to fall prey to the scheme.
Governor Mbarire asked voters not to be hoodwinked by the opposition to abandone the government saying nothing good can come out of the opposition.
“The projects we need in this area including roads and water we can only be secured if we remain with and support the government,” she said.
Gachagua has since Sunday pitched camp in the area to marshall support for the united opposition candidate Newton Karish on the Democratic Party (DP) ticket.
He has continuously slammed the government for shorting residents of the area with empty promises that have never materialized.
Ends…/Politics/Maruti/Githaiga
