Until he ventured into politics last year, Rigathi Gachagua was a real estate businessman for at least 10 years. The name ‘Gachagua’ in Nyeri County is known by almost all voters, thanks to popularity of the late Governor Nderitu Gachagua.
After the death of his brother Nderitu, Rigathi wanted to run for Nyeri gubernatorial race but he later abandoned it for the Mathira parliamentary seat.
During Nderitu’s long absence owing to ill health, Rigathi appeared to call the shots in Nyeri.
Although the Constitution stipulated that former Deputy Governor Samuel Wamathai ought to act as governor in the absence of his boss, Rigathi was often accused of meddling in the affairs of the county and acting as the de facto deputy when his brother was away.
In parliamentary sessions, some MCAs accused him of taking advantage of Wamathai’s laid-back demeanour - a claim the Gachagua’s denied.
When he resigned as District Officer in the defunct Provincial administration, Gachagua now Mathira MP was recruited as personal assistant to then Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Prof Philip Mbithi who served in 1992-1996.
Kept asking
“When he was a minister at Jogoo House, there was one campaigner who kept asking for money but he (the campaigner) told me to ask Uhuru to make some calls so he could be paid for a job he had done for the government,” said Gachagua.
“He told me once he was paid, he would campaign without coming to Uhuru for money so I thought that was a good idea. When I proposed it to my boss, he chased me out of his office like a dog,” Gachagua said.
On Monday Gachagua hit the headlines, seeking to amend the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act to tame Chinese and other foreign firms invasion.
The first time lawmaker, through an amendment Bill to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, argued that contracts of less than Sh1 billion should be left exclusively to Kenyans to build capacity for local firms and promote implementation of the Big Four Agenda. Gachagua argued that local businesses are finding it hard to grow and sell their goods as goods from China were being sold at a cheaper price.
“We have what I would call the Chinese economic invasion to the Republic of Kenya. These people came and are slowly kicking out the owner of the house economically. This has to stop,” says Gachagua.
The proposed Bill includes limiting tenders below Sh1 billion to Kenyan investors only and to introduce stiffer offences against any local person who accepts to be used by foreigners to register company’s on behalf of foreigners in the pretext that the company is fully-owned by the local person. Gachagua also wants to introduce severe offences against foreigners who use local persons to register any trading company in the pretext that the company is fully owned by the local person, but is actually owned and run by the foreigner.
In the Bill he is also pushing for strict regulations on special circumstances in which contracts valued at less than Sh1 billion can be awarded to foreigners if Kenyan firms are unable to do the job.
“There is no way local companies can compete with Chinese firms who acquire loans at three per cent in their home country, while local entrepreneurs acquire loans on 14 per cent interest,” said the MP.
