DP Gachagua Reveals Why He Has Been Missing Key National Events
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has addressed his recent absence from several significant national events attended by President William Ruto and other State officers.
In an exclusive interview with Citizen TV on Friday, Gachagua disclosed that he and his team had been removed from a WhatsApp group where the President’s schedule is shared, a move he believes was intended to sideline them from State affairs.
Gachagua claimed that the President’s private secretary, Reuben Miayo, removed his team from the group about a week ago. As a result, the Deputy President said he has been left in the dark about the President’s itinerary and unable to attend important functions presided over by the head of state.
“About a week ago, we were removed from that diary so we were not able to follow what was going on and so we cannot align. When I am aware where the President is, I am always there. When I am not aware, there is nothing I can do about it,” said DP Gachagua.
“It is a WhatsApp Group and it’s updated as we go on and we keep on aligning. I was removed, my private secretary and Chief of Staff was removed and so we have no access to the diary.”
A seemingly devastated Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has criticized the actions of President William Ruto’s close allies, describing his removal from the WhatsApp group as “mischievous” and an attempt to undermine his role as deputy president. He suggested the move is part of a larger plot to discredit him and potentially lay the groundwork for an impeachment motion.
Gachagua argued that excluding him from the President’s itinerary is designed to ensure he either misses important State functions or shows up late to meetings, making him appear disrespectful or as though he is shirking his duties. He emphasized that this tactic appears to be aimed at painting him in a negative light to justify future political maneuvers against him.
“There is mischief to remove me from the Presidential diary so that once I do not attend Presidential events, it can be purported that I am absconding duty. I hear that was one of the grounds for impeachment. Sometimes they want me to appear late so that it can appear I am disrespectful,” he said.
“I am the DP elected by the people and I am the principal assistant of the President. It is only right and fair that I have access to the presidential diary so that I align his diary with my diary because he is the boss,” he noted.
“But if I am in the dark and don’t know what is happening, I am not an angel to know exactly where he will be at what time and that is not right. So if Kenyans don’t see me in any of the presidential functions is because I am not aware of the function and the function they see me is the one I am invited to.”
