Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has admitted that there was a disconnect between the people and the President William Ruto-led government.
Gachagua, while apportioning blame for Tuesday’s nationwide protest over the Finance Bill 2024 to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) for failing to advise the President, said they were caught flat-footed.
President William Ruto on Wednesday evening said he had conceded and withdrawn the Finance Bill, which had been passed by Members of Parliament on Tuesday before hell broke loose.
Gachagua said the lives lost and property destroyed on Tuesday exposed the President.
“My boss, President William Ruto, is exposed. That he has to back down and admit that he has hurt the people of Kenya. Yet this matter has been in the public domain for the last two months,” said Gachagua.
While speaking at his official Kizingo residence in Mombasa, Gachagua wondered why President William Ruto’s administration was losing popularity with the citizens.
“How did we get here? How did we get here? We were just elected the other day as a very popular government. Where did the rain begin to hit us? Where did we stop listening to the people?” he posed.
“President William Ruto and I were the darling of the Kenyan people by listening to them, by engaging them. And as a government, we have established institutions to ensure we not only listen to Kenyans but also genuinely understand their concerns.”
He said following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024, it was now time for restraint and reflection to avoid the recurrence of the unfortunate and unprecedented events witnessed Tuesday.
“The decision by our President this evening to withdraw the finance bill after listening to the people of Kenya is a new beginning that should nurture the culture of consultation and engagement,” he said.
“It is also the beginning of acknowledging that there is a disconnect between the people and their government. I want to thank the President for listening to the people as he should. The President, myself and elected leaders are servants of the people.”
He said the disconnect led to the security sector being caught off guard by the intensity, the anger of the Kenyan people, and the agitation of the Kenyan people.
He said the country had a dysfunctional National Intelligence Service (NIS).
“We have a dysfunctional National Intelligence Service that has exposed the President, the government, and the people of Kenya. Had the National Intelligence Service briefed the President two months ago about how the people of Kenya feel about the finance bill 2024, so many Kenyans would not have died, and property would not have been destroyed,” he said.
Gachagua called for the resignation of the NIS Director General Noordin Haji, whom he accused of incompetency.
“It has had to take people to die, property to be destroyed, and protests across the country for the President to know the truth of what the people of Kenya feel. Yet there is an organisation paid for by the public to brief the president and the government about the feelings of the Kenyan people,” he said.
Gachagu said some officers within NIS told him in confidence they did not get advance intelligence briefs about the magnitude of the protest in Eldoret, Kericho, Nairobi, Embu, and Nyeri.
“Had Noordin Haji done his job, we would not be where we are today. He has no capacity. He is out of the country most of the time on business trips,” he said.
He said Haji must take responsibility for the deaths.
“He must take responsibility for the mayhem. He must take responsibility for failing President William Ruto. He must take responsibility for failing the Kenyan nation by not doing his job and advising correctly," the DP said.
"He must do the honourable thing, not just take responsibility, but resign from that office and allow the President to pick a competent Director General."