By Patricia Molyne Mataga
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has opened a lid on the huge role Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro played in his political journey.
The DP revealed that Nyoro helped in his preparations for the running mate debate against Narc Kenya Party leader Martha Karua.
His home was also a place Gachagua said he would seek refuge in fear of arrest from the Jubilee administration.
In a video from Tuesday’s Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting doing rounds on social media, the second in command also noted that the Kiharu MP has done a good job in his role as the chairperson of the National Assembly Budget Committee.
“My younger brother Ndindi Nyoro has done a good job,” DP Gachagua said, adding that “I am also a beneficiary of his economic policies.”
“When I was preparing for the running mate debate, Nyoro sat me down and gave me a few tips on matters economies,” the second in command added.
During the debate, Gachagua, then Mathira MP performed far beyond the expectations of many. Some political analysts argued that the debate played a key role in his candidacy winning the trust of the Mount Kenya region at the expense of Martha Karua.
Aside from the economic tips, the DP said Ndindi Nyoro’s home was also a place he would take refuge to hide from possible ‘kamata kamata Fridays’ that were synonymous during the retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.
Gachagua was in the bad books of the previous regime, in what he claimed was an attempt to blackmail him into dropping his support for President William Ruto – then Deputy President.
“For those who may not know, when I was in trouble with the fourth government, for fear of arrest, I would spend my weekends at Ndinti Nyoro’s house and his wife Sylvia would make a meal for me,” the DP said.
“The only problem is that for the whole weekend, he (Ndindi Nyoro) would bombard me with economic issues,” he added.
Gachagua’s praise for the Kiharu MP comes at a time when he is facing a rebellion from a section of Mount Kenya politicians over his unity talks.
National Assembly leader of the majority Kimani Ichungwa and Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki have been leading the onslaught.