On Tuesday, March 26, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni hit out at Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua days after the latter’s apology to former President Uhuru Kenyatta's mother Mama Ngina Kenyatta.
During an interview on K24, Kioni dismissed the legitimacy of Gachagua's apology, stating that it was not directed towards the intended recipients.
The Jubilee Secretary-General also raised doubts about the sincerity of the apology, suggesting that it may have been made solely for personal preservation.
Kioni further remarked that the derogatory remarks made by the deputy president and other Kenya Kwanza politicians during the campaigns had a detrimental impact not only on the Kenyatta family but also on the wider community.
Thus Jubilee's part leader demanded a fresh apology be made in public and the presence of a larger crowd. Kioni further urged other Kenya Kwanza politicians who similarly made scathing remarks on the Kenyatta family to follow suit and apologise.
“The critical question is whether this apology is cosmetic or genuine. It is important that we acknowledge the insults that happened in 2017, these insults affected more than just the first lady, the former president,” Kioni noted.
“The insults affected the community at large and even people who value lead were also hurt by insults that characterised the campaigns that were done by Kenya Kwanza at large,” he added.
Kioni's demand to the deputy president comes two days after Gachagua issued an apology to Mama Ngina Kenyatta over the fallout in 2022.
Gachgua who spoke in a roundtable interview with journalists from the Mt Kenya region attributed the insults he pelted on the former first lady to the political temperatures during the pre-election period.
2022 politics had become so dirty. It had reached a point, where we had lacked respect, hurling insults to Mama Ngina," the DP stated.
"I wouldn't again, like the Mt Kenya community, for us to get to that point again of lacking respect for our elders. I would like to ask for forgiveness from Mama Ngina," he added.
However, despite the apology, the deputy president was reluctant to state whether he would meet the former president to formally bury the hatchet.
