We're wondering what President Ruto saw in DP Gachagua - Karen Nyamu

Nominated Senator Karen Nyamu has now shifted some semblance of blame to President William Ruto for choosing Rigathi Gachagua as his preferred deputy in the run-up to the 2022 elections.

Nyamu, who spoke on the floor of the Senate during DP Gachagua's impeachment hearing on Thursday, wondered why Ruto settled for a running without considering his “political maturity.”

According to the lawmaker who faulted the DP over his perceived divisive politics, the President might have failed to consider the consequences of his decision to pick Gachagua in the long run.

She advised future presidential candidates to consider running mates who are “nationally oriented” in a bid to shun tribal and divisive politics.

“In future, I want to call upon presidential candidates to make it a very critical attribute for the running mates to have political maturity and to have a national outlook, because to some extent we want to put some blame on the President because we are wondering what he looked at when he picked his running mate,” said Nyamu.

The Senator chewed out the deputy president over the now infamous “shareholding” remarks, reiterating that such pronouncements pose a danger to the people, especially in the country’s capital and areas where different tribes reside.

Nyamu cited the recent address by DP Gachagua at Marikiti market where he used the Kikuyu language to address traders, understating that the speech served to exclude other communities in such a diverse setting.

“I was born and grew up in Nairobi County, Eastlands; where I come from, when we grew up we were not even aware of each other's tribe. So when I hear the Deputy President talking and allocating shares to citizens, I am aware that he is excluding more than half of the population of Nairobians from service delivery - the same people that I and Sifuna are always here fighting for allocation and services,” she said.

“And as if that was not enough, he was in the CBD the other day addressing Nairobians in the Kikuyu language, assuming that all Marikiti traders are Kikuyus; sowing seeds of tribalism in Nairobi is very dangerous. I cannot imagine a situation in the slums when you sensitise people and make them aware of their tribes and shares in their own country.”

Despite poking holes into the DP’s two-year term in office, the Senator at the same time pointed out it was difficult for her and other members of the Kenya Kwanza team to mount efforts to oust their deputy.

She recalled her long-time friendship with the country’s second-in-command saying they have been through thick and thin.

“I can assure you that none of us is enjoying these proceedings of impeachment motion against the Deputy President, particularly those of us from the government side, the Kenya Kwanza coalition,” she noted.

“For obvious reasons, he has been our leader, we have been in the trenches with him fighting for this government and so it has come to this but we are not happy with it.”