Mixed reactions across the divide greeted the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua by the legislatures whose decisions are the subject of lengthy litigations in the courts where lawyers are questioning the motive, legality, constitutionality, merits and demerits of the verdict. In short, the political class in both chambers is on trial for alleged constitutional and rights violations.
Oblivious to the fact that Kenya is one indivisible nation, with one constitution, one flag and one leader, Gachagua preached division never heard even from diehard tribal chauvinists.
The former Mathira MP preached unity of Mount Kenya rather than national cohesion in occasional outbursts that poisoned the political atmosphere, threatened peaceful co-existence, embarrassed President William Ruto but also deepened ethnic division. The one-million-dollar question is, where was the National Cohesion and Integration Commission when Gachagua spewed vitriol that could incite chaos. Advance threats and warnings by the commission could have forestalled the polarity of the nation and saved Gachagua. The toothless institution slept on the job.
Chest-thumping, divisive talk and derogatory remarks by the self-proclaimed Mount Kenya spokesman earned him enemies in and outside the Kenya Kwanza government. Love or hate him, Gachagua is a brutally frank person who does not call a spade a big spoon. You can only compare the Deputy President to Donald Trump, the former US president and a candidate in the presidential race.
Feud
The ensuing internecine Ruto-Gachagua feud left no doubt in the minds of legislators that one had to give way either voluntarily or get forced out in the circumstances. Consequently, both Houses, one baptised as the theatre of the absurd, resolved to show the senior United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leader the door. UDA is led by Dr Ruto, who was not also spared Gachagua’s veiled slurs and blackmail.
On the flipside, his unpalatable revelations have woken up the proverbial sleeping dogs from their ethnic cocoons. Inspired by the Gachagua outbursts, the public have summoned courage and confronted the system in an unprecedented manner and demanded service delivery instead of begging as has been the case for decades.
For the first time, Kenyans were made aware that the government is run like a private shareholding company in which the majority shareholders get the lion’s share in dividends. The shareholders, according to Gachagua, are the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin voters who elected Kenya Kwanza against Azimio in the 2022 General Election. This explains why some parts of the country have for decades been starved of development by successive governments that perpetuated the colonial shareholder concept and applied it discreetly.
Impeachment casualty
The shareholder narrative is a stark reminder of the former rulers of the region by a company known as the Imperial British East Africa whose 105-year-old dilapidated headquarters exists on Government Road renamed Moi Avenue in Nairobi. Little does the latest impeachment casualty know that speaking truth to power is a costly undertaking as history chronicles. Those who dared challenge the system paid a price with their lives and freedom.
Former Deputy Speaker Jean Marie Seroney and MP Martin Shikuku lost their freedom for concurring that then ruling party Kanu was dead and there was no need to seek substantiation of the obvious. They were arrested inside parliament and detained without trial. The leadership is allergic to truth. Silence on the findings and recommendations by the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission report corroborates this claim. The report gathers dust in the legislature office shelves.
