‘You're running out of lies!’ Gachagua hits at President Ruto over abductions

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has slammed the President William Ruto-led government for denying accountability over the ongoing abductions and kidnappings.

Gachagua, who spoke during the funeral ceremony of Eric Muchangi Kivuti, son to former Embu Senator and Bus Party Chairman Lenny Kivuti at Kanyuambora in Mbeere North on Friday, challenged the Ruto administration to come clean on the whereabouts of the missing youths.

The ex-DP faulted the Kenya Kwanza regime for failing to own up to its mistakes and accused the Executive of shifting blame to others not in government.

He fingered National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah who had earlier linked the recent wave of abductions to him (Gachagua), terming the MP as a puppet to the President sent to tarnish the names of government critics through lies.

“Ata saa hii maneno ya abductions, the President said hakuna more than five times, juzi akasema iko. Saa hii nimeona kibaraka yake huko, yule MP anatumiaga, akidanganya wakenya ati hii abduction Rigathi ndio anafanya. Ni ujinga si ujinga?” A seemingly irate Gachagua posed amid cheers.

“Respect the people of Kenya. The people of Kenya are very intelligent and you are running out of lies. You have lied until you are now believing in your own lies.”

Gachagua went on to pour cold water on government projects, reiterating that they were not working since the majority of them were anchored on lies.

According to the former Deputy President, he self-proclaimed truthful man, he was ousted out of President Ruto’s government because he could not tolerate the lies.

“Is SHIF working? Do you want animal vaccination? We want human medicine, not animal medicine. The problem with Kenya is lies, na ndio mimi nilipata matatizo kwa serikali kwa sababu mimi ni mtu wa ukweli na wale ni watu wa uongo,” he said.

Gachagua likewise called on leaders to unite and call for an end to the abductions without fear of a witch-hunt from the government as he challenged President Ruto to respect the people of Kenya by living up to his word of bringing to an end cases of abductions.

He also called on the church to remain vigilant and called out the government at a time when the State appears to be silencing its critics.

“The church is the conscience of the nation, a time like this when everybody has been silenced, it is only the church that can speak for us,” he said.

“Those youths who have been abducted here in Embu, there is only (Manyatta MP Gitonga) Mukunji whom I can hear speaking. The Governor is silent, the Senator and your MP are all silent. We want to ask the President and the government to bring our child back home. if you have killed him, bring the body so that we bury him!”

Leaders who spoke at the event mounted pressure on the government to end abductions and release kidnapped individuals back to their families, dead or alive.

They said that it is ironic for the government to claim that it does not have information on the individuals who are abducting Kenyans.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi stated that the government has a collective responsibility of investigating and bringing to book every individual who is connected to the abductions

Bus Party Leader Kiraitu Murungi called on the church to be at the forefront of fighting for the rights of Kenyans especially at a time when most of them are living in fear because of the rampant abductions happening in the country.

Murungi demanded the government to be a beckon of hope for Kenyans in 2025 by dealing with the menace of abductions.

His statement was echoed by Runyenjes Constituency MP Muchangi Karemba who noted that the increased abduction cases are alarming and causing unnecessary fear in the country.

The remarks by Gachagua came moments after Ichung'wah, in a scathing attack directed towards Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, accused him of being behind the abductions, with an ill intention to blame the government.

“Yule aliyekuwa kiongozi wako wa siasa za ukabila, the former Deputy President was the one planning for abductions to blame William Ruto. Tunawajua na tunawaona mchana na tutawatangaza mchana hadharani na huwezi kututisha,” the furious MP stated during the burial of Speaker Moses Wetangula’s mother in Bungoma where the President was in attendance.