Mixed reactions across the divide greeted the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua by lawmakers, whose decisions are the subject of lengthy litigations in the courts where lawyers are questioning the motive, legality, constitutionality, merits and demerits of the verdict.
In short, the political class in both chambers is on trial for alleged constitutional and rights violations.
Oblivious of the fact that Kenya is one indivisible nation, with one constitution, one flag and one leader, Gachagua preached division never heard even from diehard tribal chauvinists.
The former Mathira MP preached the unity of Mt Kenya more than national cohesion in occasional outbursts that poisoned the political atmosphere, threatened peaceful co-existence, embarrassed President William Ruto and deepened ethnic division.
The million-dollar question is, where was the National Cohesion and Integration Commission when Gachagua spewed vitriol that could incite chaos.
Advance threats and warnings by the commission could have forestalled polarity of the nation and saved Gachagua.
The toothless institution slept on the job.
Chest thumping, divisive talk and derogatory remarks by the self-proclaimed Mt Kenya spokesman earned him enemies within and outside the Kenya Kwanza government.
Love him or hate him, Gachagua is brutally frank and does not call a spade a big spoon.
You can only compare him to Donald Trump.
The ensuing internecine Ruto-Gachagua feud left no doubt in the minds of legislators that one had to give way voluntarily, or forced out in the circumstances.
Consequently, both Houses, one baptised as the theatre of the absurd, resolved to show the senior United Democratic Alliance leader the door.
UDA is led by President Ruto who was also not spared Gachagua’s veiled slurs and blackmail.
On the flip side, his unpalatable revelations have woken up the proverbial sleeping dogs from slumber in their ethnic cocoons.
Inspired by the Gachagua outbursts, the public has summoned courage and confronted the system in an unpresented manner and demanded service delivery instead of begging as has been the case for decades.
For the first time, Kenyans were made aware that the government is run like a private shareholding company in which the majority shareholders get the lion’s share in dividends.
The shareholders, according to Gachagua, are the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin voters who elected Kenya Kwanza against Azimio in the 2022 general election.
This explains why some parts of the country have for decades been starved of development by successive governments who perpetuate the colonial shareholder concept and applied it discreetly.
The shareholder narrative is a stark reminder of the former rulers of the region, including Kenya, by a company known as the Imperial British East Africa whose 105-year-old dilapidated headquarters exists on Government Road, renamed Moi Avenue, in Nairobi.
Little did Gachagua know that speaking truth to power is a costly undertaking as history chronicles and those who dared challenge the system as constituted paid a price with their lives and freedom.
Leadership is allergic to truth.
Silence on the findings and recommendations in the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission report corroborate this claim.
The report gathers dust in legislature office
shelves.