• Kahiga said the move was an hounour to Nyeri people especially coming at a time when Nyeri just buried their kingpin former president Mwai Kibaki.
• He said if Ruto did not pick Gachagua, there were possibilities his opponents would have sold a narrative that the DP has not been sincere with the Mt Kenya region people.
Nyeri people are satisfied with the decision by Deputy President William Ruto to pick Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate.
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga said the move was an honour to Nyeri people, especially coming at a time when the county just buried former president Mwai Kibaki.
Kibaki died on April 22 and was buried on April 30 at his Kanyange home in Othaya, Nyeri.
“Where we come from, we say that the Mugumo (fig) tree has grown again and that is how we look at it,” Kahiga said.
The governor said on Sunday night in an interview with K24 TV that he had gone around the county and people were happy and excited about Gachagua’s appointment.
He described Gachagua as a capable and able person, a fighter for human rights and a person who is in touch with people on the ground.
Kahiga trashed claims the Mt Kenya region has been shortchanged in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, saying there was no agreement between Ruto and Nyeri people on the running mate position.
He said if Ruto did not pick Gachagua, there was a possibility his opponents would have sold a narrative that the DP has not been sincere to the Mt Kenya region people.
“The choice of honourable Rigathi Gachagua may be driven by the need to harness the votes of the Agikuyu vis-a-vis the other Mt Kenya communities,” he said.
Kahiga said other than the two positions, there are others to be shared equally according to the number of votes if the alliance wins, which will appease communities that may not have been satisfied.
While on a tour of Nyeri county on Friday, Agriculture CS Peter Munya told residents that Mt Kenya was the only region left out in the sharing of government in Kenya Kwanza if it forms government.
Munya said Western Kenya and the Eastern region already have a share of the government according to an agreement reportedly deposited with the Registrar of Political Parties.
ANC, led by Musalia Mudavadi, has been promised the Prime Cabinet Secretary position and 30 per cent of the positions in government which will be shared between ANC and Moses Wetangula’s-led Ford Kenya.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua, who joined the outfit recently, was also promised a share of the government.
(edited by Amol Awuor)