By Anderson Ojwang
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki took the war with DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua to the doorstep with a threat to spill the beans over his impeachment.
Kindiki said he tried severally to help Gachagua avoid being impeached, but he refused to listen to him.
“Don’t push me, or else I will spill the beans. How I tried to save you not to be impeached, but you didn’t listen to me. I came to you severally, when I was the Interior Cabinet Secretary, and I told you to cooperate with the President. Be honest to him, but you refused to listen,” he said.
Support
Recently, Kindiki said for the two years Gachagua was in office, he supported him.
“For two years Gachagua was in office as Deputy President, I was Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security, and not any single day in those two years did I undermine him,” he said.
But Gachagua dismissed Kindiki, saying he sabotaged his fight against alcoholism in Mt Kenya.
“I have seen Kindiki saying he has no problem with me and that when I was in office, he respected me. That we only differed after he left. How did you respect me? The day I finished alcoholism in the region, you acted on the contrary,” he said.
Kindiki said he supported Gachagua while he was Deputy President and he was never engaged in politics.
“I supported him 100 percent. I was very busy with my ministry and never engaged in politics. The Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security is a focused docket. For the two years, I was living in the forest. For two years, I was your junior while you were in government. Not a single day did I abuse you,” he said.
Gachagua asked: “How did you respect me while you undermined my duty to finish alcoholism in Mt Kenya? Even if you have a problem with Ruto, stay there,” he said.
Blood relations
He said the blood relationship and advice from the elders was the reason behind his reference to Gachagua as brother.
“Not that I liked you too much, but you have a sense of arrogance and self-entitlement. I have tried to like you, but I don’t know what kind of a human being you are.”
“You said I should not call you my brother. I want to tell you this, Mr Rigathi: it is not upon you to tell me how I will call you. It is not your business. It is my business. You will not determine how I will call you. I don’t call you my brother because I like you or because I fear you. I do so because the elders from Gikuyu, Mbeere, Embu, and Meru told me that our community is one and that you are my brother by blood and not by choice. If you hear me call you my brother, it is not because I fear or like you. I have tried to like you, but you look down upon people,” he said.
Recently, Kindiki told Gachagua that the unity of the region was paramount and they needed to treat one another with respect, devoid of abuses.
“My dear brother Rigathi Gachagua, I am not asking you to join the government because you left. I pray for you in the role you are currently playing. But do it with respect. Let us not cause division in Mt Kenya. I will not abuse you because you are my brother, and you too don’t abuse me,” he said.
But Gachagua dismissed the overture, saying it was culturally wrong to “kill your brother and take his wife.”
“Do not call me your brother because even if you are someone’s brother, can you kill him and take his wife? You say one is your brother but you killed him and took his wife,” he said.
Disloyal
Kindiki said Gachagua was disloyal and disrespectful to his boss, President William Ruto, and that was why he was impeached.
“You looked down on your boss, everyone including your brother. How can only one man be the right man in the world? That nature of yours is what made you be impeached. I told you. I don’t want to be like you. Be loyal and respectful to your boss so that tomorrow when you become the president, you will be treated likewise. But you looked down on me and told me I don’t know what I was saying,” he said.
Cold
Kindiki said Gachagua was in political cold and that was the reason for his bitterness.
“Currently, you are making noise outside the government. I want to ask you, my brother Rigathi: for me, several people do not understand me. I say they only saw me in the night and not during the day. That disrespect you have, Rigathi, I promise you will be embarrassed,” he said.
The law professor is taking his fight with Gachagua into the political bar, and it is going to get murkier and more interesting as Kindiki fights for his DP slot and control of the mountain.
Welcome home
Earlier, Gachagua had claimed that Kindiki was being subjected to the same mistreatment he went through before he was impeached.
He told Kindiki that he was welcome back home in the political formation that Mt Kenya has shifted to.
But Kindiki declined the overtures, saying he had built the party and cannot walk away and will be President Ruto’s running mate.
