President William Ruto has revealed that his relationship with his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua is better than the one he had with his former boss.
President Ruto said he wants the relationship with his deputy to be better than the one he had with Former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In an interview on Sunday at State House, Ruto said that he wouldn’t want Gachagua to go through what he went through when he was the DP.
“You know what I went through while I was the Deputy President. The office of the deputy president had been shut during the previous administration. I used my own money to fuel cars, even buy tea for guests and pay allowance for workers,” he said.
The Head of State said that he wanted Gachagua to work independently without any interference
“I respect my deputy and want him to run his show. I want him to work in an office that is functional,” Ruto said.
Explaining how work-oriented Gachgaua is, the President said that the DP is always at his office engaging in meetings.
This in return, Ruto says has made his work easier as he has a Deputy to whom he assigned duties.
“My deputy is very busy, today he can hardly have time. Today he is permanently in the office because I have assigned him responsibilities. When you get people to help you work, it becomes easier and better,” he added.
Treasury data last week revealed that Gachagua has started clearing bills incurred by his predecessor after his budget was slashed under the previous regime.
The office of the deputy president withdrew Sh81.09 million from the government’s main account in April under the special Sh849.20 million budget that was created to pay arrears when President Ruto was Deputy President.
Last month, Gachagua said that the additional special funding will be spent on debts occasioned by inadequate funding during the tenure of his predecessor, including arrears to staff.
“For four years, President Ruto when he was Deputy President fueled government cars from his pocket. He bought tea and paid electricity bills for the office. He paid allowances to staff accompanying him across the country,” he said
“When Ruto became president-elect, the officers who were attending meetings in his office felt embarrassed and they sought to undo what they had done to save face. The DP had nothing to do with it, that is their work."