DP Gachagua: Raila’s planned demonstrations are just a ploy towards handshake with Ruto
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has scoffed at Azimio la
Umoja leader Raila Odinga over his planned nationwide demonstrations due to various issues against President William Ruto’s administration.
Starting Wednesday, December 7, Odinga has pledged to
“bring down President Ruto’s system” in the countrywide public rallies which
are set to kick off at the Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi.
“On the 7th of December, at the historic Kamukunji grounds
here in Nairobi, we will launch public consultations with the people of Kenya
to brainstorm on the direction the country is taking,” Odinga said on Friday after meeting Azimio leaders from Nairobi County.
DP Gachagua has however trashed the demonstrations as a mere
ploy by the opposition leader to seek audience with President Ruto towards a
possible agreement similar to the March 2018 ‘Handshake’ between him and former
president Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Last time, he staged similar protests until he got himself
into President Kenyatta and William Ruto’s government. Uhuru bought into his
threats and let him into his handshake government and he wrecked it,” Gachagua
said on Sunday.
Speaking during an inter-denominational Sunday service at
Embu University, the DP maintained that the Kenya Kwanza government will not
get into any agreement with the opposition chief.
“He can stick to opposition. Let the old man hear it from me,
here at the slopes of Mout Kenya, there will be no handshake. The only
handshake President Ruto is interested in is with hustlers for the Hustler Fund,”
said Gachagua.
While describing the 2018 Handshake as “a bad experiment” and
“the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of Kenya for 60 years,”
the DP faulted it for stalled projects and run-down economy he said they
inherited from Mr. Kenyatta.
“All these road and
dam projects have stalled and it is because of him, he held the president
hostage… All the economic mess we are having today is as a result of that
handshake,” he said.
“Now that we have
defeated him, he has again started the language of demonstrations and his goal
is still the same; scare the president and be invited for a handshake. We do
not want him in our government. He can protest all day but there will be no
handshake,” added Gachagua.
Odinga’s demos stem from the ongoing probe of
four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners by
Parliament.
The four; Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit,
Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya are being grilled after petitions were
filed challenging their suitability to hold office, following their
disowning of the August 9 Election presidential results.
“We will return to the Kamukunji grounds on
12th December to continue with these consultations on the state of the Kenyan
nation and also to have a prayer for democracy in our country which is right
now under threat by this administration,” Odinga said on Friday.
He also accuses President Ruto of a ploy to
rig the 2027 elections following suspension of the four, as well as what he
terms as skewed public appointments.
Sources close to Jubilee and KANU have told
Citizen Digital that the two parties are not part of the rallies.
They said although they are still in the
Azimio coalition, they
will not participate in the demonstrations, without giving further details.
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