Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has urged leaders to stop vilifying him for his stance on the One Man-One Vote-One Shilling campaign.
While welcoming Azimio Leader Raila Odinga and DAP-Kenya party leader Eugene Wamalwa’s public support for the issue, Gachagua maintained that he had the right to his opinion and should not be criticized.
“The fact that I am deputy president does not diminish my constitutional right as a Kenyan to have an opinion. “But that opinion is not a command,” he stated.
Gachagua advocated for tolerance, urging leaders to participate in a revenue allocation formula free of abuse and labels.
He stated that every leader should have the opportunity to express their views on the revenue allocation formula.
During a meeting with Jeremiah Kioni’s Limuru III caucus, Odinga expressed his support for the campaign to increase resource allocation to the populous Mt Kenya region.
”In devolution, we talked about equity in the sharing of resources. That means we count of the number of people while sharing resources. Somehow it has been misrepresented as if it is discriminating against some parts of our country. Nothing could be further from the truth,”
He cited disparities in the government-funded bursary scheme under the Constituency Development Fund, which he claims benefits some regions at the expense of others.
The proposal has since sparked a heated debate across the political divide, pitting Deputy Gachagua against President William Ruto’s allies, who accuse him of ethnic bias.
