Three chiefs based in Mathira, Neri County have accused Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of threatening them with the sack for allegedly being “Azimio sympathizers” during last year’s General Election.
The Nation reports that Chiefs George Mukabi, Dadson Ithiru and assistant chief Burton Chiuma said Gachagua called them on Monday night and reportedly told them “It’s payback time”.
The publication reports that the DP called them between 8.00 pm and 9.30 pm.
“It was around 9.20 pm when I received a call and being a resident of Mathira and having served the DP when he was the area MP, I still retain his contact. At first, I panicked and was a bit apprehensive because it is a very rare call and I didn’t know what he was up to,” one of the administrators was quoted as saying.
“When I finally picked up the call, it was a familiar voice of his Excellency the deputy president. He started by informing me that he had information that I was among those who were supporting Azimio during the elections. The call was short, and he ended by asking me how many years are left before I retire…He informed me that in the meantime, I should be looking for something else to do because I will be going home. I could not start arguing with such a senior person. However, I tried to explain myself, but he could hear none of it,” the chief added.
The chiefs said they have not received any official communication regarding the sack but have informed their boss, Mathira East deputy county commissioner Mr Peter Gicheha.
“As administrators, our duty is to support the government of the day. We are now under the Kenya Kwanza government, and we must propagate the government’s agenda and policies and we are very loyal to the government. I think there are some politicians who are against us for some reason we are not aware of,” said Chief Mukabi.
Gicheha reportedly said he received the complaint from the chiefs andthat he was treating the matter as “personal”.
“They informed me about it, but it was at that personal level. Any official communication from the DP is supposed to come directly to me and nobody has called me,” he said.
“The chiefs are in a better position to tell you what happened. They told me they were called, but the DP has not called me. I don’t know what they talked about so I cannot authoritatively comment about the matter, ” Gicheha added.
