Tell Kalonzo to come home, Gachagua pleads with Ukambani leaders

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. [File, Standard]

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called on political leaders from the Ukambani region to join the Kenya Kwanza team.

Speaking during a thanksgiving service at Kitui AIC Church, that brought together senior government officials as well as local leaders, Gachagua pleaded with elected leaders in the region to persuade Kalonzo Musyoka to work with the ruling party.

"We got no problem with Kalonzo. In fact, we are waiting for him to make up his mind. You will decide what to do with him because we do not understand him," Gachagua said on Sunday afternoon.

He criticised the Wiper Party leader, for maintaining his ground in the Azimio coalition, despite losing the August 9 polls.

"We did look for him but anytime we look for him he goes back to Raila. Even after being subjected to an interview and being embarrassed he has refused to leave. We don't understand why he is confused," he added.

"We have no problem with Kalonzo but we don't understand him. I want to ask you Ukambani leaders to sit down with Kalonzo and guide him. The Kamba cannot remain in opposition permanently," he noted.

Gachagua's sentiments come two days since Kalonzo accused President William Ruto of making unilateral decisions on important matters in the running of the country.

He made the remarks a day after the Mashujaa Day celebrations, where he raised the issue with the President's Mashujaa Day speech.

Accusing Ruto of dictatorship, Kalonzo claimed the President is running a one-man show where he is presenting his personal ambitions as the country's policies.

"We are staring at the emergence of a personalised dictatorship in which a leader decides to avoid constraints and he does not need to consult anyone on decision making... We are seeing a leader's personal philosophies, fears, and ambitions being presented to the country as policies. It is a one-man show,"

He also questioned the president's directives on the DCI's Special Services Unit, asking for answers on who wrote the report used to execute the purge.

"Who prepared the report leading to the ongoing purge of the DCI? Who decided that we can manufacture fertilizers jointly with a neighbouring country or build dams on a PPP basis?" posed Kalonzo.

"Ruto is steadily moving away from the more collective and collegial leadership style characteristic of his predecessors," said Kalonzo.