DP Gachagua breaks silence over reports of ditching UDA to join a new party
The office of the Deputy President dismisses reports that Rigathi Gachagua is seeking a new political party following recent wrangles in the UDA Party.
In a statement on Wednesday, May 29, the Head of Deputy Presidential Communication Service, Njeri Rugene termed the reports one-sided and laced with innuendos.
“The attention of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been drawn to an article published in the Daily Nation Newspaper and its Digital platform headlined: Gachagua seeks new party amid falling-out with Rute and Ruto-Gachagua tiff: DP Gachagua in search of new political outfit, respectively, on May 29, 2024. This one-sided false and concocted story is laced with innuendos and malice,” read the statement in part.
Rugene noted that associating DP Gachagua with another political party was done in bad faith and was aimed at undermining his role as the deputy party leader of UDA.
“To associate His Excellency the Deputy President with another political party, especially one with questionable association can only have been done in bad faith, with the sole intention of undermining His Excellency’s role as the Deputy Party Leader of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party,” Rugene stated.
She further mentioned that the reports are deliberately intended to disparage and attack the integrity of DP Gachagua.
Rugene demanded the retraction of the story and an apology to the deputy president from the local newspaper.
“The article also clearly violates the tenets of professional journalism that demand objectivity, balance, and fairness.
“In this regard, we demand a retraction of this fabricated article and an apology with the same prominence,” Rugene added.
This comes after Daily Nation reported that is set to quit UDA and join a new political party.
According to Daily Nation, the deputy president is in talks with The New Democrats (TND) for a political partnership in the face of his likelihood to quit the ruling party.
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TND Secretary General David Musembi confirmed that Gachagua’s loyalists had represented him in meetings with the party officials for a possible deal.
“There have been talks, but there is nothing tangible to speak about at the moment. Maybe something will come out much later,” Daily Nation quoted Musembi as saying.
Former president Mwai Kibaki’s son Jimmy Kibaki, who recently resigned as TND’s deputy party leader, also confided in Daily Nation that he had heard of the deputy president’s interest in the party after he quit.
A source also revealed to the newspaper that Gachagua was seeking to partner with one-time ranking operatives in former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s government.
“He has acquired a political party and recently approached a governor from Western Kenya to be part of his team. He even asked him to plan a meeting with a senior former Cabinet minister so that they can discuss future politics,” said the source.
Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga, an authoritative confidante of Gachagua, also spoke to the likelihood of his (Gachagua’s) imminent walkout from the ruling party.
The governor told Daily Nation that Ruto could lose Mt Kenya if he continued to allow the onslaught -by a section of leaders- against the deputy president.
“It is true battlefronts have been opened against the DP. One is the Gen Z group which believes that it is their time to assert themselves in leadership positions and since they don’t have the guts or muscle to take on the presidency, they opt for the seemingly weaker of the two, the deputy president,” stated Kahiga.
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