The Kenya Kwanza Alliance’s Dr. William Ruto has defended his embattled running mate Rigathi Gachagua as “the strongest of all the five who contested the position.”
The politicians shortlisted included Tharaka Nithi Senator Prof Kithure Kindiki, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, and Kandara’s Alice Wahome.
Mr. Gachagua has been labeled divisive, dictatorial, abrasive, and arrogant by some Kenya Kwanza principals, and the Deputy President is attempting to mitigate the damage.
Dr Ruto called their bluff on Monday, two days after Chama Cha Kazi’s Moses Kuria and Tujibebe Wakenya’s William Kabogo — and a day after Mwangi Kiunjuri of The Service Party — complained that Mr Gachagua was driving affiliate aspirants to the wall.
“When I chose him as my running mate, he was chastised for being too strong… that I needed someone soft and small in stature… But I insisted on having that powerful and well-placed person…, “Dr. Ruto stated this in Njoro, Nakuru.
He dismissed Mr Gachagua’s critics as “having an inferiority complex and starting to fear him once they see another person rising up the ladder of influence… That is not how I am.” I want us to succeed as a team, and we can only do so if we all work together to complete our mission.”
Dr. Ruto has publicly backed Mr Gachagua for the second time in a week, after describing him as “a passionate leader, a people’s person who speaks my language about ordinary Kenyans… he believes in the people [and] the bottom-up economic model like me” in an NTV interview on June 12. That’s why I picked him.”
