Title: Kawanjiku says he owes no political allegiance to Gachagua
Kiambaa MP John Kawanjiku has said that he owes no political allegiance to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, noting he has “paid all his political debts” and will no longer be subjected to pressure.
Kawanjiku said Gachagua has long held the view that he supported his bid for the parliamentary seat, and therefore anticipates loyalty and support.
“I think the former Deputy President believes he really campaigned for me alone, and that my loyalty should be to him,” Kawanjiku said during an interview.
“But I told him some time back, I have paid my political debts, and the pressure has been enough.”
The first-term legislator recounted a tense encounter with Gachagua in 2023, during which he was spoken to harshly and asked to leave the then Deputy President’s office at Harambee House Annexe.
“At the time, we were talking about generational change,” Kawanjiku said during an interview.
“When Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro visited my constituency, he (Gachagua) called me, spoke to me angrily over the phone, and later asked me to leave his office.”
Narrating an incident at Gachagua’s office, Kawanjiku said he, together with other leaders, had gone to lobby for a particular appointment, but the atmosphere quickly shifted.
“In the holding room, as we waited, he suddenly raised his voice at me, asking what I was doing there,” Kawanjiku recalled.
“Even the security officers were surprised. Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara, and Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a were there, and everyone was surprised in fact. I honestly really didn’t know what I had done wrong.”
According to Kawanjiku, the fallout stemmed from his association with Ndindi Nyoro, whom Gachagua viewed as a political rival.
“The problem was that I had hosted Nyoro in my constituency,” he said. “So I asked him, do you want to influence who I can be friends with?”
Kawanjiku said the meeting in question in Kiharu had been focused on training MPs on how to effectively utilise the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
“When I became MP, Gachagua himself advised me to learn from Nyoro’s model in Kiharu,” Kawanjiku explained.
“Nyoro used labour-based projects that deliver more with less money, and I even took my team there to learn. Now he’s upset that I attended a meeting there? It makes no sense.”
He added that Gachagua claimed he sat in a meeting where people “criticised” him, a claim Kawanjiku dismissed as unfounded. “No one criticised him,” Kawanjiku said.
“People were simply saying they see a future in this young man, Ndindi Nyoro.”
Last weekend, Gachagua, leader of DP, commented that Mt Kenya region has elected weak MPs as opposed to the Nyanza region, which picks intellectuals to parliament.
He particularly mentioned Kawanjiku and Wamatinga as examples.
