Riggy G's titles: Impressive on paper, powerless in reality

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. [PCS]

It looks like Deputy Prezzo Rigathi Gachagua aka Riggy G’s shareholding in government has tumbled — the term preferred by business scribes is tanked — and he could be contemplating bolting out of UDA. I suppressed a laugh when I read that because Riggy G can’t run that fast!

But Riggy G’s did not think it a laughing matter; his office demanded a retraction in a note that dripped with titles that made the man sound like a deity. He was referenced as “His Excellency,” “Deputy President” and “Deputy Party Leader” countless times.

And it got me thinking: If Riggy G’s staff sound hysterical in their address of him, then how do they relate when they meet him in the flesh?

Do they shudder and cower at his glare? If that’s the case, then they must rejoice when he goes out to the mountain to meditate.

I suppose what possibly fuelled speculation about Riggy G’s impending departure from UDA was when he disappeared from public limelight. But when one reckons Riggy G’s egalitarian outlook, and how grounded he is, as illustrated in his forest forays, nothing could be further from the truth.

But it is disrespectful of the Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja to dare Riggy G to test his popularity by running for the gubernatorial seat. I don’t know if Sakaja compares his seat to Riggy G’s.

If he did, he must be reminded Riggy G’s titles include that of “Deputy President” and “Deputy Party Leader.” And he’s hoping to remove “deputy” in his titles in the future, and gun for the top seat in the land.

I don’t know what happened to Riggy G project of setting traps to ensnare specific individuals, mainly the opposition leader Raila Odinga, aka Baba.

I suspect Riggy G got ensnared in some of the traps because he can’t quite extricate himself out of the mess.

And the man he promised to hound out of town and send to Bondo has been busy receiving Presidents, or just cooling off somewhere to escape post-rains humidity.

I don’t know whether it’s right to empathise with a man with titles that sound as powerful as His Excellency, Deputy Party Leader and Deputy Prezzo, though Riggy G does seem quite powerless, outside his office.