Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects in the Office of the President, Dennis Itumbi, responded to several concerns raised by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during a candid interview aired on Friday.
In a social media post, Itumbi debunked some of Gachagua’s claims, particularly addressing the complaint that the Deputy President had been removed from the “State House Diary” WhatsApp group, which was created to manage President William Ruto’s schedule.
Itumbi clarified that Gachagua had omitted important details, pointing out that President Ruto himself had been removed from the group before Gachagua due to concerns about sensitive information being shared on the platform.
“Yes, the Diary group was deleted. What DP Rigathi fails to mention is that the President was removed even before him, and The group was permanently deleted due to the highly classified documents being shared in WhatsApp groups,” Itumbi posted.
Itumbi further revealed that a decision had been made to discontinue the formation of any new WhatsApp groups related to the State House diary.
Additionally, Itumbi addressed another complaint raised by Deputy President Gachagua. Gachagua had expressed dissatisfaction over a photo of him standing near a window at State House during King Charles III’s visit to Kenya. He claimed that the image had been altered by State House bloggers in an attempt to make him look bad, suggesting that the move was orchestrated by individuals working for President Ruto.
In response, Itumbi dismissed these claims, clarifying that there was no such effort to undermine the Deputy President and that the incident was being misrepresented.
“On the King’s visit meme, it’s absurd how far DP Rigathi has gone to draw attention to a satirical piece of art, developed clearly by those against UDA at the time for social media banter,” the digital strategist posted.
Itumbi further claimed that at one point, Deputy President Gachagua influenced President Ruto to cancel a critical Universal Health Coverage meeting, instead opting for a two-hour discussion about the political impact of the meme in question.
The digital strategist also linked Gachagua’s hostility towards him to his refusal to conform to the Deputy President’s political approach regarding Mt. Kenya. Itumbi alleged that Gachagua had expressed frustration not only over Itumbi’s stance but also towards Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
According to Itumbi, Gachagua had accused both him and Nyoro of undermining him. Additionally, the Deputy President was reportedly displeased with Nyoro for hosting development events in his constituency, interpreting it as a challenge to his political influence.
“Some of us refuse to bow down to the ‘Kingpin’ politics of the mountain, and that’s our only ‘offense.’ and subscribe to a new standard of political engagement and discourse. We refuse to praise and worship, we disobey orders to tweet personalised platitudes to Muthamaki the King and instead believe in One Nation. One Flag,” Itumbi alleged.
The clarification from Itumbi followed an interview where Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addressed various issues on national TV. Aside from the State House diary controversy, Gachagua also discussed his resilience in the face of rumors suggesting that a group of MPs was plotting to impeach him.
Despite the political tension, the Deputy President affirmed that he remained steadfast and undeterred by the speculation surrounding his position.
“Ironically, photographers will tell you, he complains even about his own poses in shared photos. Maybe one day, we’ll all share our full stories. For now, I’m just responding to what he chose to make public,” Itumbi said
