Raila: Gachagua fell into his own 'traps'

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at KICC, Nairobi. [File, Standard]

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s hand in the ouster of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is now coming out clearly after he asked Kenyans to tell between the two of them who was politically smart.

Raila said Gachagua had boasted of having set traps in all corners of State House to prevent a handshake between him and President William Ruto but is now a victim of his own political machinations.

Speaking during the thanksgiving service for Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi on his appointment as the ODM Deputy Party Leader in Chavakali on Sunday, Raila told Kenyans that Gachagua has now been relegated to political obscurity due to his miscalculations.

“You heard Rigathi Gachagua saying that he has set traps in every corner of State House so as to prevent Raila Odinga from accessing there; where is he now? Those traps ended up catching him; he should know that Baba is smarter than him in these games,” said Raila.

The opposition leader’s hand in Gachagua’s impeachment was visible during proceedings in the National Assembly and the Senate where legislators allied to him were at the forefront of championing the removal from office of the former deputy president.

Gachagua had repeatedly said he had the responsibility of guarding Ruto against rapprochement with Raila so as to avoid the pitfalls they underwent following the March 2018 handshake between Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila which led to sidelining of the president.

“I would like to assure our supporters that I have set traps in every corner of State House to guard our President against any political schemes by Raila Odinga, I have ensured that he does not reach there under my watch so that we do not end up with what happened following the handshake with the former President,” said Gachagua.

Raila’s dalliance with Ruto has led to senior members of his party getting Cabinet positions with former ODM Deputy Party Leaders Ali Joho being appointed Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet while Wycliffe Oparanya is the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Micro Small Enterprises.

Former ODM National Chairman John Mbadi is the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Former National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi is the Energy Cabinet Secretary while Beatrice Askul who is a former Member of the ODM National Elections Board is the East African Affairs Cabinet Secretary.

Raila’s close allies are also angling to get Principal Secretary positions after the Public Service Commission advertised them in what looks like Ruto wanting to finalise the reconstitution of his government after reappointment of Cabinet Secretaries in August following the Generation Z protests.

During his tour of Kisumu last week, Ruto admitted that Raila came to his aid when he needed it most and that the two leaders had agreed to work together for the good of the country since what the country needed most at the moment was the unity of all Kenyans.

“As you all know I have supported Raila in the past, he has now agreed to work with me for the good of the country, we are going to unite this country, I do not see any reason as to why someone should not be happy because we are preaching unity for our people, “said Ruto.

The President said his government will invest in agriculture to reduce the cost of living with focus being given on Universal Health Coverage so that every Kenyan can access healthcare and affordable housing programme so as to create jobs and promote economic growth.

Raila’s hand in Gachagua's impeachment was very clear with his close allies such as National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed, Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina vouching for the removal from office of the former Deputy President.

“In fact, in my entire time as an elected leader, I have met Rigathi Gachagua once and the second occasion when he was in the House, honestly, both of them were very sad events, the first one was a funeral and these proceedings can also be likened to a political death if the House decides to impeach him,” said Sifuna during the impeachment process

 Junet said during the impeachment process that during public participation he was shocked because people were saying ‘kufa makanga, kufa dereva’pointing out that they cannot allow the driver to die because we are witnessing a situation where the ‘makanga’ wants to take the steering wheel by force.

The Suna East MP said the driver, in reference to Ruto, is carrying 55 million Kenyans and that they cannot allow him to die because 55 million Kenyans will die with him and that if the makanga in reference to Gachagua who is just hanging on the door of the matatu misbehaves, he can go.

“If he is not doing his work properly, he is the easiest one to go first, he is the one who should tell the driver what to do, yet they are telling us kufa makanga, kufa dereva, we do not have the impeachment of the driver in this Parliament, the motion we have before is the one for the makanga, we will deal with him perpendicularly and thoroughly,” said Junet.