Just a day after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua asserted that President William Ruto's trip to the Mount Kenya region would involve launching projects started by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, curious rhetoric has emerged.
This comes after Belgut Member of Parliament Nelson Koech observed that Gachagua's remarks were in stark contrast with his position in the lead-up to the 2022 general elections.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Tuesday, April 1, Koech noted that the former DP had repeatedly claimed that Uhuru had abandoned the Mt Kenya region during his second term.
"I attended so many rallies in central Kenya, and our rallying call was that the people of Mt Kenya had been deprived by Uhuru of their right to development. Gachagua was brutal and lethal in that campaign against Uhuru. Now he is saying that the President is going to launch projects he had said were never initiated by Uhuru. He is going against his word," MP Koech noted.
In one such instance, Gachagua blamed the 2018 handshake between Uhuru and the then-opposition leader Raila Odinga for this exclusion.
Speaking on August 8 during an interview with vernacular stations, Gachagua claimed that the economic and infrastructural stagnation of central Kenya was a result of Uhuru's taking all the development projects to the Nyanza region as part of his agreement with Odinga.
At the time, Gachagua claimed he would be a better Mt Kenya leader and bring the region together as it had been divided during former President Uhuru's tenure.
"The Mountain will speak decisively and will be united in this vote - a unity of that will be cemented under my leadership. I will be very accommodating; I will reach out, and I will listen to our people and, most importantly, restore their dignity," Gachagua declared.
The attacks on Uhuru for abandoning and dividing the region even made their way to Gachagua's inauguration speech where he accused Uhuru's administration of leaving "empty coffers."
However, when the tables turned and he started getting sidelined, Gachagua abandoned declarations of being the Mount Kenya kingpin, ultimately giving up the title to Uhuru.
In September 2024, just a month before his impeachment, Gachagua revealed once again his plans to make up with the former President, ultimately pronouncing him as the ultimate Mt Kenya kingpin.
“Myself and the mountain people feel very bad that we punished Uhuru Kenyatta. We demeaned him, we told him off, and we embarrassed him for telling us that Raila Odinga is a good man. We were very brutal with him, and we hammered him,” Gachagua said.
He continued his praises upon impeachment and has been doing so ever since, culminating in his 180-degree switch back that former President Uhuru did, in fact, launch projects in the region.
On Monday, March 31, the eve of President William Ruto's first visit to the region since Gachagua's impeachment, Gachagua maintained that Ruto was just planning to launch projects started by his predecessor.
"I want to tell the president. You are coming to Mount Kenya to tell us which projects you are working on," Gachagua said.
"But we must say the truth: the projects that are in Central Kenya are those that were initiated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, and you have refused to complete them."
Curiously, this was the same president who Gachagua alleged had abandoned the mountain and taken all his projects to Nyanza. Most notably, Gachagua was Uhuru's personal assistant between 2002 and 2006.
