Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has slammed former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over viral claims that he had breakfast at the CS's grandmother's house on Monday morning.
This comes amid heightened tensions in the area as Gachagua campaigns for the Democratic Party (DP) Candidate Newton Karish, and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) team campaigns for Leonard Muthende to succeed Ruku in the Mbeere North constituency by-elections.
On Monday, November 17, Gachagua made an early morning stroll in Mbeere North, visiting homes in a door-to-door type of campaign. When the photos went viral, rumours soon started spreading that one of the homes he visited was Ruku's grandmother's.
Ruku, on the other hand, has since denied these allegations, claiming that both of his parents and grandmother are deceased.
"Riggy G, stop lying to people that yesterday morning you woke up and went to the grandmother of Ruku. That is nonsense," Ruku said during a rally in the area.
"If I Ruku does not have a mother or a father, as they passed away a long time ago – even the people of Muminji know this – can my grandmother really be alive?"
Ruku extended his call out to Citizen TV, accusing the media house of spreading the same narrative.
"I also saw Citizen TV highlighting these issues. They are used to lying to Kenyan people, and we want to tell them from here in Muminji not to bring their attitude and enmity to us in Mbeere North," he said.
Mbeere North is among the jurisdictions where byelections are to take place on November 27. As such, politicians from all divides have been upping their campaigns in the area, in support of their preferred candidates.
UDA's Muthende and DP's Newton Karish are the two top candidates in the two-horse race, backed by opposing sides, both employing their own strategies to win the voters, including engaging the voters on a personal level. Both Kindiki and Gachagua have vowed to camp in the area until after the polls.
Gachagua, whose candidate from the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) dropped out to support former Public Service CS Justin Muturi's DP candidate, has been leading the campaign team for Karish, alongside other United Opposition leaders.
On the other hand, the UDA team, led by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and CS Ruku, has been campaigning for Muthende.
Whoever wins will replace CS Ruku, who left the position after landing his Cabinet appointment to replace Muturi, who is also from the region.
