Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has stated that President William Ruto will take responsibility if ODM Leader Raila Odinga’s entrance into the administration causes problems.
The DP stated that they will neither question or condemn Raila because he did not invite himself into administration.
“I want to say this, even if Raila comes and becomes a menace to us, we cannot question him because he did not bring himself to government
“In the event anything bad happens from Raila coming into government and the people of Mt Kenya are not happy, we will question President William Ruto because he is the one who has brought Raila in,” he said.
Additionally, Gachagua claimed that the President explained to him why he chose to collaborate with Raila, stating that it was not intended to cause turmoil in government.
According to the DP, Ruto indicated that the former Prime Minister was called in to facilitate collaboration between the Executive and the Opposition.
“I will believe that because I have not seen any signs that things are going wrong,” she said.
Gachagua acknowledged Raila’s backing for his ‘one man, one shilling, one vote’ mantra, saying that makes him an ally and a good man.
“Any man who supports this mantra is not my enemy and an enemy of the people of Mt Kenya because that is someone who wants the best for us,” he told reporters.
Gachagua said that former President Uhuru Kenyatta assured the region that Raila was a fine man, which President Ruto has confirmed.
“Uhuru Kenyatta told us Raila is a fine man, and now President Ruto says the same. Since I saw and recognised this trend, I have not been against him since any man who believes in the one man, one vote, one shilling motto is not an opponent,” the DP stated.
Raila, who had met with the organisers of the Limuru III meeting, chaired by Jeremiah Kioni, told journalists in June 2024 that he still supported the idea.
He emphasised that many Kenyans had misread the model’s essence.
“Resource sharing was a major topic of discussion during the Limuru debates. Somehow, this has been misrepresented as if it discriminates against certain parts of our country,” he explained.
Raila stressed that the approach will ensure a fair distribution of resources among all Kenyans, emphasising the need of adopting the concept.
“We want to ensure that every Kenyan receives an equitable share of resources. This is what it is. It cannot be appropriate for certain students to receive more money in bursaries than other children in other regions of the country,” he stated.
