By Peter Ochieng
It is not in Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua’s character to ‘go missing’ for such a long time. Kenyans have been keen to note that the second in command has been out of the public eye, for about a week.
To compound matters, he is also missing on social media having made his last posts on X and Facebook platforms over four days ago.
Addressing concerns over Gachagua’s whereabouts, National Assembly Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro said the DP has taken sometime off work to rest.
“I’ve seen people raise issues with the absence of the Deputy President in the political scene. The Deputy President can also relax. He has been worked up for some time and has now taken a break for a week or so, let him relax,” he said.
Osoro who doubles up as the South Mugirango MP added that Gachagua will be in Nyeri on Saturday, where he will speak for himself.
“I hear tomorrow he will be in Nyeri, he will speak for himself. For now, it has been very tough on him.”
Gachagua has missed at least 11 public functions, the most significant one being the Tree Planting Day on Friday, 10th May, 2024.
The DP may have been overwhelemingly by raging floods in most parts of the country, which have killed about 300 and displaced over 280,000 since the onset of the March, April and May long rains.
On May 7th, he said said most government officers were not able to sleep because of the devastating effects of the floods.
“The challenge we are facing today is heavy, we are not able to sleep. Calls are coming from across the country, everybody is asking for food and non-food items. People asking for military choppers to assist in dropping food. People asking for support,” said the DP.
“The government, under the leadership of President William Ruto, will do whatever it takes and will apply all the required resources in terms of money and personnel to make sure that lives are not lost and the people of Kenya are protected from this disaster,” he added.