How Gachagua had an uphill task to substantiate 'shareholding remarks'

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua clashed with MPs on Tuesday when he appeared before the National Assembly to defend himself over his 'shareholding remarks' that formed part of the grounds of his impeachment motion.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and his Minority counterpart Junet Mohamed castigated DP Gachagua on the impeachment grounds after he appeared to defend himself over the motion.

Mr Ichung’wah accused the DP of dividing Kenyans by consistently publicly stating that residents of Mt Kenya region deserved to tap more from the National government than other communities.

“As an MP of Kikuyu constituency, and as a son of the mountain where I come from, the community is depicted as a community that is entitled and privileged. We are a community that is known for its hard work and resilience not for entitlement,” Mr Ichung’wah said.

The Kikuyu MP termed the DP as a person who has been pushing for his personal interests instead of lobbying for the interests of all Kenyans.

“Rigathi Gachagua does not believe in an indivisible country. He (Gachagua) believes in parochial selfish, regional and sectarian interests. For that reason, Mr Speaker, the Deputy President deserves to be impeached,” the MP said.

DP Gachagua had told the House that prior to the August 9, 2022, General Election, political parties under the Kenya Kwanza coalition entered into pre-election agreements that were meant to allocate positions for specific regions.

He said the agreements were entered by UDA, ANC, Ford Kenya, PAA, Farmers Party, Chama Cha Kazi, Communist Party, Economic Freedom Party, The Service Party, Tujibebe Wakenya Party, Umoja na Maendeleo Party of Kenya and the Democratic Party of Kenya,

“In accordance with the provision of Clause 3 Schedule 3, a power sharing agreement and development agenda for the certain regions of Kenya was entered. I have attached copies of these agreements. All those agreements talked about specific regions. The leaders who appended their signatures canvased issues of appointments to do with specific regions,” Mr Gachagua said.

The country’s second-in-command said that the agreement stated that ANC and Ford Kenya would get a 30 percent share of the Kenya Kwanza government.

“Share is the word of the National government positions. This derives from my utterances about shareholding. It is embedded in all these agreements that are attached here for you to read. My pronouncements on the issue are not only anchored in Law but entirely harmless,” the DP told the House chaired by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.

“The ANC party would be allocated the position of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, which has happened. Ford Kenya party would be allocated the position of the Speaker of the National Assembly. That is why Hon Masika Wetang’ula sits here today. My remarks cannot be misconstrued to ethnic animosity, a danger to national cohesion or national unity,” he added.

But Mr Mohamed told off the DP, claiming that all political parties in the country mirror a national outlook and should not be segmented on a regional basis.

“In his previous utterances, he (Gachagua) said that Kenya is a house of shareholding. The DP has told Kenyans that Kenya is a shareholding company and that if you did not vote for Kenya Kwanza, you do not have the right to shares,” Mohamed said.

“All political parties that formed the Kenya Kwanza coalition are national. Mr Speaker, in this country, under the Constitution, you are not allowed to form a tribal political party, a regional party, a religious political party or a 'mlima' political party. Those positions were given to members of national political parties,” he added.

At the end, Mr Gachagua was impeached by 281 MPs.