- Gachagua in an interview with Inooro FM on Friday, asked Kenyans to stop reading too much into the assignment of government functions.
- He added that his mandate is clearly defined in the Constitution.
Image: DPCS
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has spoken of his relationship with President William Ruto saying they are still intact dispelling speculations pointing to strained relations.
Gachagua in an interview with Inooro FM on Friday said he speaks with the Head of State on a daily basis and termed their relationship as top-notch.
"President William Ruto and I are joined at the hip. We talk on a daily basis. My relationship with the President is top-notch," Gachagua said.
Speaking to claims that Ruto was stripping him of his powers by promoting Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Gachagua said that the President had mandated him with a great responsibility he (Ruto) understands his output.
He asked Kenyans to stop reading too much into the assignment of government functions.
He added that his mandate is clearly defined in the Constitution.
On the coffee subsector reforms mandated to him, Gachagua said the war on the reforms has not been an easy walk in the park.
"The President knew the assignment ahead, and that is the reason he gave me the mandate. The reforms on the coffee are in earnest," Gachagua said.
He said coffee reforms will take a little more time than tea and milk reforms because, unlike the two, coffee has so much interest, and the entrenchment of cartels is deep.
"We are kindly asking our farmers to be patient with us because if we have turned around the tea fortunes of the farmers, we will win the war on coffee," he said.
Gachagua said it is time to dignify the coffee farmers in the country. He said those who currently buy coffee from farmers have decided to use their monopoly of power to sabotage the farmer.
They have blocked the auction so that we can panic and fall for their tricks. We are not relenting.
Gachagua said he is currently looking for more markets for coffee produced by farmers.
"I will look for more markets until we break even. I am now heading to Germany to look for the coffee market, and I can assure you that we aren't losing on this one," he said.
Gachagua's remarks come a day after President Ruto announced his first Cabinet reshuffle after one year in office.
In the changes affecting eight CSs and PSs, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi was entrusted with an extra mandate of managing Kenya's Foreign and Diaspora Affairs ministry.
The move to allocate Mudavadi an extra docket of Foreign and Diaspora affairs has been viewed as a show of confidence in the Prime CS.
He will run the ministry in addition to running normal duties as Prime Cabinet Secretary.
The appointment now means Mudavadi becomes one of the most powerful individuals in Ruto's government owing to the fact that he will now be sitting at the National Security Council.