A rare sense of unity between Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Azimio co Principal Kalonzo Musyoka was witnessed yesterday at the consecration of comedian cum bishop Benson Gathungu as the two seemed to speak in one voice.
While Kalonzo and his ally Eugene Wamalwa seemed to support the beleaguered Gachagua over his one man one vote one shilling, his clarion call on unity and the viler movement, Gachagua on his part said he was committed to look for political allies across the country.
As a gesture of their newfound friendship and comradeship, Kalonzo offered to marshal the Azimio troops in Parliament in case of the much talked about impeachment by the anti Gachagua’s crusaders in the government.
“If they try to impeach Gachagua, we shall reject and say no, we can only impeach both Gachagua and Ruto, Gachagua should not worry, he should leave the work for us so that we tell them that there is nation to look after,” the Wiper leader said.
Kalonzo also praised Gachagua defense of his Mt Kenya region people saying “I really don’t know much about you, but I admire your spirit and ability to fight. You are welcome in the club of courageous people, be brave because of Kenya and the Mt Kenya region.”
On his part, Gachagua assured that he would look for Kalonzo in the near future even as he informed him about his new political approach from abrasiveness to reconciliatory tone.
“You are your friends, I have been sat down by elders and as you have seen my way of politics has changed, I have been advised to look for friends in the whole country. The Kamba and our people are the same people; they are our cousins. We shall look for each other in the near future,” Gachagua said.
In a surprise announcement, Gachagua who has been a harsh critic of Opposition chief Raila Odinga, disclosed that they met while in South Africa during the inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa and that he campaigned for his African Union Commission chairmanship bid.
“in this region we used to to an election with an enemy we have decided that we have no enemy in Mt Kenya, we shall loo for friends with any Kenyan and that is what we shall live and also taking into consideration that our people are everywhere in the country, and that is why we are sinking friendship with everybody,” he said.
While dismissing claims that he was out to unite Mt Kenya region so as to drive the region out of government, Gachagua said “Those who claim that my call for unity is leading this region out of government, they should know that this is our government we out our 47 per cent in this government, if there is anybody who want to leave, he can leave. We want to make sure that we are respected in this government, and it will part and parcel of the government that will come in future.”
“We are uniting so that we can organize ourselves, it is incumbent on Kalonzo to unite his people, Raila and President Ruto should organize their people so that we can later unite the country,” he said.
Wamalwa defended Gachagua’s revenue sharing proposal based on population claiming it was not a Mt Kenya issue but a national issue uyrging Gachagua not to accept threats and intimidation from government.
“Raila, Kalonzo and I have been advocating for the one man one vote one shilling, why is it that when Gachagua calls for it he is labeled a tribalism They should not trivialize the issue and seek to isolate an individual,” the Democratic Action Party of(DAP-K) leader said.
He said Mt Kenya region should stand tall against threats by the government saying should the worst happen; the region is not short of options of political alliances in the future. The rare alliance between the Azimio leaders and Gachagua came even as the latter’s allies proposed for Gachagua Kalonzo alliance claiming the Ruto led administration had fallen short of its promises.
“Our people supported the Finance bill 2023 on the promise of the affordable housing, but I have not seen them Juja, that is why I rejected this year’s bill, we want you (directed to Gachagua) to join Kalonzo so that we can put our votes in one basket,” Juja MP Geroge Koimburi said.
Former Laikipia East MP Cate Waruguru said ‘We encourage you to look for friends outside Mt Kenya after uniting our region while The National Democrats party leader Thuo Mathenge said, ‘We should speak in one voice, you should sit with Kalonzo and Wamalwa and seek for alliance,Mt Kenya region will back you.”
Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu claimed Ruto had betrayed Mt Kenya region claiming the region will turn its back against his reelection bid in 2027 and vowed to protect Gachagua from mistreatment and disrespect.
“You are our leader, and we don’t want you being mistreated and being disrespected because your respect represents Mt Kenya. We want to unite and have one Presidential candidate before we can seek negotiation with other leaders such as Kalonzo.”
Githunguri MP Gathoni Wa Muchomba expressed her support to Gachagua saying he was not picked for the Deputy President due to his; handsomeness’ but because he represented the Mt Kenya region votes.