- The only way President Ruto could manage is by major achievements elsewhere, such as fixing the economy.
- It’s a diversionary tactic likely to boomerang on the administration if it tries to sack Gachagua.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
There is no downside to removing Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. In fact, there are positive sides only. The whole purpose of President William Ruto impeaching Gachagua is not because it will give him any benefit politically. But if it can twist and refocus Kenyan minds from his failed administration and give it a tribal angle, then he might succeed in having other communities following him blindly and forgetting about his failures as an individual.
The Kikuyus already left him. Actually, the whole of Mt Kenya left him long ago. He knows that. He is not stupid. Impeaching Gachagua has no direct benefit but to just change the topic to making Kikuyus being seen as a problem.
The only question is whether he can manage that, because the only way would have been if he was succeeding elsewhere. If he was succeeding on the economy, then he would have pulled through. Because he is not succeeding economically, it will only raise political temperatures. It could also backfire in the sense that Kikuyus may decide to boycott tax payment the way they did under President Daniel Moi and undermine the whole system completely.
The impeachment idea is likely to boomerang on them, that is, if it is indeed in the plan. I see it as a diversionary tactic. It may not even happen. It is a deflection from the Gen Z’s demands for good governance, integrity in management of public affairs, transparency and accountability. The way I see it, though, it is unlikely to shift the debate.
We also feel that accusing the Deputy President of trying to overthrow his own government is not only ridiculous. It is also a petty scheme that is already sowing seeds of division in our country. The expectation that the President would navigate the country out of the current crisis without unnecessary distractions seems to be in vain. On the contrary, he has started 2027 campaigning in earnest.
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Let us imagine. Just imagine that the Deputy President was engaged in a clandestine plot to overthrow his own government. Where was the National Intelligence Service (NIS)? Where was the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)? Indeed, where was the President himself when his principal assistant was plotting a coup under his very nose?
If, indeed, there is the slightest indication that such a plot existed, then the heads of both the NIS and the DCI should not only resign because of incompetence, they should also face criminal prosecution either for complicity in treason, abdication of duty or both.
Ex-NCIC commissioner spoke to Star