Gachagua calls for dialogue with independent offices

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called for dialogue even as independent offices raise concerns over alleged interference by the Executive.

Speaking in Naivasha when he opened a consultative forum between the Executive, Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices (CCIOs), Gachagua said differences will best be solved through dialogue.

The three-day forum will include the Executive, Judiciary, Parliament, Salary and Remuneration Commission, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission among others.

According to Gachagua, independent institutions can only criticise the government from a position of knowledge of what is happening.

Gachagua criticised government institutions that have been at war with each other to the point of suing each other.

"We have taken out fights to the public and courts instead of listening to each other to come up with solutions," said Gachagua.

He added that the court cases have eaten into the national revenue and citizens have been forced to take the burden through taxes.

"Government bodies hire lawyers who are supposed to be paid by government. I believe that 80 per cent of our issues can be resolved through engagements," he said.

Gachagua said that he expects the forum to come up with a development framework between the National and county governments and the CCIOs.

Chief Justice Martha Koome expressed concerns that independent institutions still do not have adequate resource allocations.