Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has once again hit out at President William Ruto, revealing more intricate details from his tenure as the second-in-command.
Speaking on Monday during the launch of the new offices of the Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K), Gachagua revealed that amongst his roles was defending Kenya Kwanza projects, especially the ones receiving public backlash.
He recalled receiving a phone call from the President’s aide questioning his silence on the controversial Adani Deal.
“He was telling me to go and defend the Adani Deal. I was at a funeral with Wamalwa and Onyonka when he (Onyonka) called out the government for the deal. I just sat, listening but did not even nod because I was still in office. When I stood up, I did not respond,” he narrated.
President William Ruto and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in a past photo
Photo
The Informer
“Later on, one of the President’s PAs (Personal Assistants), a standard six drop-out, called me furiously asking what type of a DP I was for not defending the Adani deal after Onyonka’s speech. I told him ‘I cannot answer you. Tell your boss to call me.’ So the President called me and I told him I could not defend the deal because it was shrouded in corruption.”
Gachagua said that was one of the reasons why he was labelled incompetent, for reportedly not defending government projects which he deemed as corrupt.
According to Gachagua, the entire government was riddled with shady deals that he was unable to defend. Among the projects he named was the relocation of Kenyans from the Nairobi River and the Marikiti Market.
In his impassioned speech, Gachagua described Kenya’s State House as the most corrupt institution in the country, where corrupt individuals flock to strike deals with the President.
During his tenure, he recounted having to wait up to five hours to speak to the President as he engaged with such individuals.
However, the most corrupt project he singled out was the Affordable Housing Scheme, a legacy project of the President intended to benefit hundreds of thousands of Kenyans annually.
“It is the worst fraud against the people of Kenya, and it is good I tell the country. Those are the things he was telling me to go and defend. I told him I would not,” Gachagua relayed.
“Initially, we believed in the President’s dream that it would bring about employment and many other things until it came to my attention that it has nothing to do with housing but a business.”
He went on to allege that tenders to supply materials like cement, roofing materials, and building bars were subcontracted to top government officials. To keep the money flowing, Gachagua claimed that more houses needed to be built continually.
“So this housing levy that is charged to Kenyans is to make sure these houses keep being built so that these people can sell the materials. That is what the President is accusing me of not understanding and being incompetent,” he stated.
In the same vein, he asked the next government to do away with the project to restore the dignity of the payslip.
President William Ruto and former DP Rigathi Gachagua laid the stone for the building of affordable houses in Nanyuki on January 10, 2024.
William Ruto