In his first public address after skipping over 11 State functions, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua steered clear of addressing the rumour mill regarding his falling out with his boss, William Ruto.
Instead, the DP, who made a speech during a church service in Nyeri County on Sunday, insisted that he took the weeklong downtime to inspect the projects he initiated in his home county.
The deputy president noted that during the entire period, he visited several areas in Nyeri albeit undetected to inspect the drug abuse eradication project and was pleased by the results.
He argued that the success rate stands at 85 per cent with Mukurweini Constituency remaining the only one still lagging behind.
"I take this opportunity to thank the Nyeri County Commissioner and his team (as well as) the police commander and all his people for a very good job done," stated the DP.
"Commissioner, I have been around for the last one week and I have walked around without being noticed. The only place you will keep an eye on is Mukurweini. The rest of the county is good, we are 85 per cent successful."
While steering clear of the rumours, Gachagua further criticised lawmakers who gave speeches before him for politicking in church without paying attention to delivering on their mandate.
"A lot of politics have been said here but I will say nothing. The reason is that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is a man of few words and if you have followed my politics for the last 10 months, I talk less and do more," he added.
"I have heard MPs talking about matters of the Deputy President instead of CDF. How will you know the stories of the Deputy President? Please mind your business. It's not the election period yet. For now, let us respect those who were elected and give them a chance to work. The public will have an opportunity to evaluate your work and make a decision. Let us bring down the temperature and allow those who have the opportunity to serve to do so."
Over the weekend, the media speculated on the DP's whereabouts, hinting at a fallout between him and his boss, William Ruto.
Reports claimed that he had skipped 11 State functions including an address by Ruto and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni during the latter's State Visit to Kenya.
When questioned about any tensions between the two leaders, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed denied any bad blood and deflected the issue to the DP's communications department.
"Now that you asked about the President and the deputy president, to my knowledge, there is no issue. The Deputy President's Office is an office with all the capabilities and competencies," stated Mohamed.
"If you want to ask any question or find out anything about the Deputy President, they have all the capabilities and you can find out anything about the Deputy President, they have all the capabilities and you can find whatever information you need there."
