Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga has claimed that President William Ruto was the reason behind deputy president Rigathi Gachagua's absence at a church event in Nyeri County on September 15.
Speaking on Friday, September 20, Kahiga asserted that Gachagua called him the night before the church event and told him that he would be attending together with the president.
The county boss, however, stated that the deputy president told him that they would attend another event in Kirinyaga County before going to Nyeri.
"The president is the cause for that empty seat because I was called the night before by the deputy president. He told me they would be going with the president to Kirinyaga and then come to Nyeri.
"So I was ready only for me to see the president not go to Kirinyaga but went to a church in Outering in the morning. Gachagua had already gone to Kirinyaga to wait for the president. He was there waiting for the president," Kahiga remarked.
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He added that the president asked him whether the deputy president would attend the event in Nyeri, but he responded by saying that he was waiting for him in Kirinyaga.
"Even as we were sitting in Nyeri, I remember the president asking if the deputy president is coming. I told him he was waiting for him in Kirinyaga. And the president told me, 'Oh my God, it happened that I changed my plans a bit in the morning,'" Kahiga explained.
In a statement on September 15 over the incident, Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang'wa stated that Gachagua was representing President Ruto at a different event and it could not be concluded in time for him to join the president.
“To clarify misinformation from political spin masters and the masterminds behind the plans to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua: Both the President and Deputy President were expected to attend services at the Kirinyaga and Nyeri churches.
“The President was specifically scheduled to officially open the Baricho Parish rectory, but Rigathi stood in for him. The Deputy President had also planned to join the President in Nyeri after representing him in Kirinyaga, but time constraints made it impossible,” Thang'wa remarked.
Speaking at the event in Kirinyaga, the deputy president explained that he could not leave the event midway.
“I was hurrying to attend another church in Nyeri when I saw there was a cake. I wondered whether an event without eating a cake is complete. So I decided to wait for the cake,” Gachagua remarked.
