Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has criticised the media for what he claims is its failure to showcase the accomplishments of the Kenya Kwanza government in its eight months in office.
Gachagua charged the media on Sunday of providing “one-sided” coverage of President William Ruto’s administration’s performance in light of pledges made to Kenyans in the run-up to the general election in August 2022.
“Our friends here (the media) yesterday ran a story of our broken promises and I gave them a long list (of what the government has achieved) which I have not seen (published),” the DP said during a church service he and President Ruto attended in Isiolo.
The story said that the government has not only failed to honour some of the pledges it made during the campaigns but has chosen a completely different path from the picture it had painted while on the campaign trail, with the controversial Finance Bill 2023, which imposes higher taxes – including 16 percent value-added tax – on fuel.
“Don’t give a one-sided story. Give the story of what you consider to be broken promises, give the story of the kept promises and leave the people of Kenya to make a decision on whether in seven months substantial progress has been made,” Gachagua has said.
Some of the things President William Ruto’s critics have taken issue with include his decision to create new executive positions in the government, which he opposed prior to becoming president, his failure to fulfil his promise to have 50% women in the Cabinet, and his failure to carry out his promise to commission a review of the pay and working conditions for all security sector officers within the first 100 days of taking office.
Gachagua has previously accused the media of being sponsored by milk cartels. In February, the DP said that milk cartels are determined to create a wedge between the leaders of Muranga by propping up Kiharu Mp Ndindi Nyoro as an alternate centre of power.
The Dp has been under fire for the last few months about his off-the-cuff utterances that continue to create confusion within Kenya Kwanza about his intended mission.
“Kwanza mtu ya maziwa ndiyo analipa hii watu ya gazeti, si mnajua cartel wa maziwa? Na ni mimi na hawa…hii watu wanaiba pesa ya maziwa, in another three months, mtaanza kuuza maziwa mzuri,” stated the deputy president.
“Kama hatukuogopa Uhuru na system na deep State, watu ya magazeti tutaogopa nyinyi? Mwache hiyo maneno mko nayo. Mnakuja hapa Murang’a mkutano mzuri mnakoroga mnaweka uwongo, mpaka huyu [Murang’a Senator Joe] Nyutu sasa anatoa jasho eti hakusema. Don’t bother about these people Nyutu, forget about these characters,” he said.
