- Addressing the Mt Kenya people, Gachagua said he would be shocked if he found out that a session of the people from the region wanted him gone.
- He stated that he would be shocked because he did not know why they would have a problem.
Image: DPCS
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has downplayed the impeachment claims allegedly being pushed by a section of his political nemesis.
Speaking on Sunday in an interview with Agikuyu vernacular media stations, Gachagua confirmed that he had heard of the impeachment claims but said he was not worried about them.
"If speaking for my people will be the reason for my impeachment, I'm ready to go home. I'm still young," he said.
According to the DP, the entry of ODM leader Raila Odinga and his troops into the Kenya Kwanza government has also been linked to the impeachment claims.
"I hear they wanted to impeach me but they did not have the numbers to do so. Now I hear that they are saying with Raila and his people in government they have the numbers to oust me if they unite," Gachagua said.
According to the brief he received from President William Ruto, Gachagua says the ODM leader and his troops were brought on board to help stabilise the country, not to impeach him.
"Ruto did not tell me Raila was coming with his people to get rid of me, he said they were coming to help and I believed him. So I am not taking the impeachment issues seriously," he said.
On claims that the impeachment is being spearheaded by MPs from the Mt Kenya region, Gachagua described the narrative as shocking.
The DP said it would surprise him why the group of leaders would orchestrate his ouster from office yet he has been on the frontline in agitating for the needs of the Mt Kenya region.
"My thinking is one, if it is our Mt Kenya people who are the ones after that motion, I would be so shocked because I don't know why they would have a problem. I'm speaking for Mt Kenya people," he said.
"Two, if there's that motion, they should collect the signatures where they were elected first. They should go back there because it is not the MPs who voted for me but it is Kenyans, especially the Mt Kenya people who supported me and Ruto overwhelmingly. It's not MPs who elected me. It's Kenyans. They should get the signatures from Kenyans, not MPs."
The remarks by Gachagua come hot on the heels of reports of night meetings and behind-the-scene schemes to oust the country’s second in command.
Sources say Gachagua is being accused of insubordination, undermining the presidency and fueling anti-government protests.
He has been receiving attacks from some leaders in his Mt Kenya backyard.
On Tuesday, DCI detectives questioned Gachagua’s handlers over their alleged involvement in the recent anti-government protests that rocked the country.