You are now the boss, Gachagua, avoid needless exchanges

Had the office of the acting Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) not swiftly moved to disown a story carried in one of the dailies last Wednesday suggesting an exchange between the chief investigator and Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua, this would have portrayed a very negative upcoming trend in communication within government.

The daily had quoted the acting DCI Hamisi Massa as telling off Mr Gachagua over his recent castigation of the conduct of DCI officers. Gachagua has had a long run-in with this particular office, especially under the immediate former DCI boss George Kinoti, whom he constantly singled out during the last election campaigns as being used by the President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration to fight politicians allied to William Ruto, now President.

By distancing himself from these comments, Massa helped to ease what would have become another ugly spat or unmanaged communication process within government. Today, unlike a few months ago when he was open to public responses from government officials, Gachagua speaks first as the Deputy President; the principal assistant to the President.

Responses or clarifications after government officials get it wrong must be restricted to formal communication devoid of public spats and embarrassing exchanges.

Foreign reserves

Indeed, Kenyans wondered recently whether there was a better way for Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the DP to discuss their conflicting positions. In an ugly scene that must not be encouraged in offices that are not short of communication experts, the DP and the CBK governor engaged in a public exchange, with CBK faulting Gachagua for claiming the country's coffers were depleted of foreign reserves for imports.

Certainly there must have been a better way for CBK to correct Gachagua. Doing this in public media was untidy.

Maybe direct responses to Gachagua may be informed by what has been created publicly of the politician, especially since his nomination by Dr Ruto as his running-mate in the Kenya Kwanza coalition. An image has been portrayed of Gachagua as a careless speaker. This is not helped much by negative cartoons and caricature of him, even in mainstream media as a loud mouth and one with a loose tongue.

These caricatures and social media memes have not only portrayed the man as a loose cannon, but also a "fashion disaster". I am not a fashion enthusiast, and would not say our DP is the sharpest dressers, but is he that bad? I don't think so.

Gachagua's advisors ask him to moderate his tone and possibly change his approach on how he engages his juniors and their offices so as not to be seen to be stuck to the campaign period when government officials were his real, or even perceived enemies. He is now their boss.

That way, he will avoid embarrassing moments as what may be seen as an exchange between him and his juniors.

Mr Njagih is a freelance journalist