Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has made shocking claims about demands allegedly made by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to President William Ruto before they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Kameme FM on Monday, March 17, Gachagua alleged that Odinga had insisted on securing several key government positions for his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) allies as part of his deal with Ruto.
According to Gachagua, Raila demanded six Cabinet Secretary (CS) positions, similar to how the Kenya Kwanza team had previously negotiated for eight positions in exchange for their support during the elections.
“For Raila to back the President, he asked for six Cabinet positions, just like we had asked for eight in exchange for our votes. This is how government negotiations work,” Gachagua stated.
However, Gachagua went on to claim that even more drastic changes were in the pipeline.
He alleged that a major restructuring of the Principal Secretaries (PSs) was already underway, and many of his supporters from the Mount Kenya region would soon be dismissed to make way for new PSs aligned with Raila Odinga.
“On Friday, Raila and President Ruto spent the entire day with Chief of Staff Felix Kosgey, strategizing on how to reshuffle the PSs.
Initially, we had negotiated for a total of 15 PSs, ensuring that each county in our region had at least one PS, while Meru, Kiambu, Laikipia, and Nyeri got two each,” Gachagua revealed.
“Now, Raila is demanding 15 PS positions. I have been informed that he is being allocated 10. This means William Ruto is planning to remove our people from office.
When I was Deputy President, I tried to prevent such things from happening, but he didn’t like that and labeled me as tribalistic,” he added.
Gachagua further expressed his disappointment with Mount Kenya politicians allied with President Ruto for not stepping in to prevent the impending shake-up.
He lamented that these leaders were silent even though the changes would significantly impact their region.
He referenced the recent uproar over the rumored dismissal of Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa, pointing out that strong public support had saved her from being removed.
He insisted that the same level of defense should be extended to the Principal Secretaries from Mount Kenya who were at risk of being sacked.
“I don’t know if we are under a spell or if President William Ruto’s money has blinded our leaders. People are plotting to fire our PSs, yet those who should be speaking up are completely silent,” Gachagua lamented.
He singled out his successor, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, accusing him of failing to address the looming job losses for Mount Kenya leaders within the government.
Gachagua stressed that the current leadership needed to step up and protect their own instead of watching from the sidelines.
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