Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has defended himself against the impeachment motion in Parliament, arguing that one of the accusations against him is unjust since he was merely following the leadership style of his boss, President William Ruto.
Gachagua’s defense stemmed from comments he made about National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General Noordin Haji during the Gen Z-led protests against the now-withdrawn Finance Bill, 2024. Speaking in Mombasa on June 26, 2024, Gachagua had called for Haji’s resignation, blaming him for what he described as the declining effectiveness of the NIS under his leadership.
He criticized Haji’s handling of public sentiment regarding the Finance Bill, stating that since Haji took over from Major General (Rtd) Philip Wachira Kameru in June 2023, the agency had failed in its duty to provide the government with crucial intelligence. "I sympathize with President Ruto because this information was not available to him. The NIS is supposed to deliver this, and that’s where the problem lies—we have a dysfunctional NIS that has let down the President, the government, and the people of Kenya," Gachagua said at the time. He further added that Haji should resign for failing to adequately advise the President, leading to deaths, chaos, and the mishandling of public unrest.
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Responding to these remarks being included in the impeachment motion, Gachagua defended his stance by highlighting that President Ruto himself has criticized underperforming government officials without facing similar actions.
He pointed out that Ruto, both as Deputy President and now as President, has openly criticized government officials who fail in their duties, but no impeachment motion has ever been tabled against him. Gachagua argued that his actions mirrored those of Ruto, implying that what’s acceptable for one leader should be acceptable for another.
He reiterated his point, stating that when public dissatisfaction with the Finance Bill led to protests, it was due to NIS’s failure to gauge public sentiment. He argued that had the NIS done its job, the protests, which led to loss of life and property damage, could have been prevented. "I merely expressed my opinion during my media briefing in Mombasa, and my comments were no different from how intelligence failures are addressed in other countries," he said.
To support his case, Gachagua played a Citizen TV news clip from August 2023, where President Ruto criticized Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries for being uninformed about their portfolios. In the video, Ruto reprimanded his officials for being late to sign performance contracts and demanded written explanations.
Gachagua also played clips of Ruto, during his time as Deputy President, where he publicly criticized senior security officials, including former Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and ex-Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti.
"Rigathi Gachagua has learned from his boss that public officers must be held accountable when they fail to meet expectations. I have never seen anyone attempt to impeach William Ruto for criticizing the IG or the DCI. This is an unfair allegation," Gachagua concluded.
