Speaking in Kirinyaga County on Saturday while overseeing an empowerment program, a seemingly irate Gachagua went bare-knuckle in his attack aimed at a section of Cabinet Secretaries, Ruto’s Personal Assistants and his friends whom he accused of creating cold blood between him and the president.
DP Gachagua wondered how a person who is only a personal assistant, a CS or a blogger could think they have authority over a sitting deputy president elected by millions of Kenya.
He slammed the said president’s allies over what he termed as condescension, reiterating that only the president and the people of Kenya could tell him what to do.
“Even some of his friends, his PAs want to order me around on how to do my work. Is it possible? Even bloggers of the president want to tell me what to do… you know me, I have only two bosses, President Ruto and the people of Kenya,” Ruto said.
“What the president tells me to do, I have done and will continue to do, respect him and be loyal to him. But I cannot allow people who hang around him, his friends, to also think they are my bosses, they are not. I am elected by the people of Kenya. I cannot confuse my boss with his friends, I am not that stupid, I know the difference.”
The DP faulted the friends of Ruto for overexcitement on matters of leadership simply because they were around the head of state, as he urged them to remember their place.
According to Gachagua, the allies are responsible for the ongoing perceived discord and rift that is slowly forming between him and the president saying they have also formed a WhatsApp group dubbed ‘Project 22’ where they are inciting other leaders against Gachagua.
“The problem you are currently witnessing is that some people who are friends of the president also want to be my boss. Is it possible?” Gachagua posed.
“Now they are trying to incite other leaders against me through a group called Project 22 by convincing them that I am a bad person.”
The deputy president went on to recall the period before the 2022 Presidential Elections, averring that the same current critics were still against him when Ruto named him his running mate and was now pushing for him to be replaced.
“When Ruto was looking for a running mate, he had many choices, there was a small group that was saying that if he made me his deputy, he would fail,” the DP said.
“They attempted to convince him but finally he made up his mind as a very seasoned politician and came to the conclusion that it was me to be his deputy.”
Consequently, Gachagua reaffirmed his stance on Mt Kenya unity calls, vowing not to be cowed in his beliefs.
He rubbished claims that he was advocating for tribal politics, maintaining that unity for the mountain would guarantee the region bigger resources in the national
“We have elected Ruto knowing that he is not a Kikuyu. We don’t want people telling us that we are tribal. We are patriots because of electing Ruto,” he said.