Rigathi Gachagua backtracks on ‘empty coffers’ remarks
Gachagua has made a u-turn on his past statement that he and President William Ruto found the economy in turmoil, with the public coffers plundered and empty
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has made a u-turn on his past statement that he and President William Ruto found the economy in turmoil, with the public coffers plundered and empty.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, Gachagua clarified that while the economy was not in an ideal state when the Kenya Kwanza administration took office in 2022, there were still sufficient resources to run government operations and get the country moving.
“To some extent, yes, the coffers were not overflowing — there wasn’t surplus or real abundance — but there was enough to get the country back on its feet,” Gachagua said, tempering the earlier narrative of a bankrupt government.
Asked why he didn’t utilise the available resources, the former DP turned the conversation toward deeper frustrations within the administration, portraying President Ruto as the central figure of power and control while sidelining his deputies and ministers.
“I couldn’t do anything because the administration of William Ruto is led by Ruto, implemented by Ruto, and overseen by Ruto — everything revolves around him. We were just there; nothing anyone could do,” Gachagua stated.
He blamed the lack of progress in the Kenya Kwanza government on what he called a toxic concentration of power around the president, intimating that the frequent reshuffling of cabinet members has been a cosmetic distraction from the real issue.
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According to Gachagua, Kenya’s governance crisis isn’t about personalities in the ministries but about a system that centralises too much power around one individual.
“That is why you find, out of the 22 ministers who were appointed in the first government, 13 have been shown the door — and yet nothing has changed. Because they are not the problem. The problem is one: the common denominator. How do you explain that the deputy president was removed and replaced, but nothing has changed? Attorney General, Interior Minister, Finance Minister — nothing has changed. Health Minister changed three times — the health system still not working,” he noted.
“All these ministers who’ve been changed — it’s a game of musical chairs.
The problem is not the ministers, it is the president, because he does everything in this country. They know it but don’t want to say it because they are mere flower girls.”
Gachagua went on to accuse the president of being his own advisor despite the fact that his office has more advisors than any other public office.
“The president has more advisors than ministers, but the problem is that he advises his advisors on how to advise him. It is what you call a zero-sum game. Nothing can change in this country — it will get worse,” he said.
Gachagua’s remarks come years after he blamed the past administration of Uhuru Kenyatta of plundering the country and leaving nothing to inherit economically.
During his maiden speech at the swearing-in ceremony in 2022, he said, “The truth of the matter is that we are inheriting a dilapidated economy that is facing almost an economic shutdown, we have a Ksh.10 trillion public debt…” said Gachagua.
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