Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said the government will not tolerate any violent demonstrations by the opposition saying property destruction was a no go zone.
Mr Gachagua said the recent demonstrations by the opposition had been violent and blatant looting insisting that such would not be tolerated going forward.
Speaking during the burial of Mau Mau fighter John Njigoya Kagwe also known as Brigadier Kiboko at Ngorika Secondary School in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County that was also attended by Azimio leader Raila Odinga, the DP said the Constitution allowed peaceful protests but not destruction of people’s property and looting.
“Our Constitution has express provisions on demonstration and picketing, that is why we allowed demonstrations. But what you did was just destroying people’s property and stealing from Kenyans and fighting with the police. It was all about theft and looting. That cannot be allowed in this country. We will not allow that again,” said Mr Gachagua.
The DP added that there was no harm with holding bi-partisan talks but said they will not entertain any handshake or dialogue on sharing government.
“The talks can proceed. We have sent National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and you have sent Kalonzo Musyoka. The teams can talk. But there is no day we will allow destruction of property in the name of demonstrations. There will be no handshake,” he said.
Mr Gachagua said their focus will be on developing the country and improving the lives of people through ongoing development programmes.
“The President and I will focus on development; constructing roads, electricity connection, building dams because it is what our people expect from us,” he said.
Mr Gachagua said the Handshake between former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga had subjected the Mt Kenya region in hardships including lack of development.
He said the former President also lost touch with the people and became intolerant to advice from leaders from the region.
“We fear the handshake because of what happened in the last regime. After the handshake, we suffered a lot because the President couldn’t listen to us,” the DP said.
Mr Gachagua said the confusion brought by the handshake in governance will not be entertained.
“Once you win an election you govern, if you lose you become the opposition. The kind of mongrel created by the Handshake in 2018 is not tolerable again,” he added.
The DP said since they took over they have put in place many economic recovery measures that have seen it improve the last one year.
“For the first time in years we have disbursed all the money belonging to the counties and the National Government Constituency Development Fund. This is a great sign of an economy recovering after the destructive handshake regime,” he said.
Mr Gachagua said the government had also reduced fertilizer prices immediately after taking over.
Because of a better economy, the DP said they are rolling out another phase of registration of farmers targeting those who missed out in the last one.
The government is also seeking to increase the number of beneficiaries of the elderly and vulnerable funds.
