Former Mombasa governor Hassan Joho has told Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to resign moments after castigating the National Intelligence Service (NIS) over the Finance Bill 2024 protests and subsequent withdrawal of the bill.
In a statement, Joho chided Gachagua for apportioning blame to NIS, saying this was not the time to point fingers but to pull together in one direction.
“Having listened keenly to the address by the Deputy President this evening, I find it disturbing that a leader of his stature would issue such reckless statements at a time when the government needs to be seen to be pulling in one direction,” Joho said.
Gachagua had noted on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, that the NIS was being led by incompetent individuals who were misinforming President Ruto about the actual public sentiments on the ground.
The deputy president divulged that it had taken the loss of lives and widespread destruction of property for the president to come to terms with the public dissatisfaction with the Finance Bill 2024, saying NIS was to blame.
“As a country, we find ourselves in a not too familiar territory and therefore it’s incumbent upon the leadership of the country to try and restore confidence in its citizens rather than apportioning blame for failures that should be collectively owned by them,” Joho added.
Gachagua appealed to President Ruto to recall three directors who had been fired from NIS including 13 other assistant directors who he said had been redeployed to minor office duties.
Joho to DP: Resign
However, Joho maintained that Gachagua was unfairly targeting the NIS leadership and that his speech in Mombasa was laced with tribal undertones.
“To make it worse the sentiments by Mr. Rigathi Gachagua smacks of tribal undertones and that’s the least this country needs at this time,” Joho remarked.
He added: “I would therefore wish to see him lead by example by being the first to take responsibility and resign instead of asking for other peoples’ resignations.”
This came after a visibly agitated Gaachagua called on the Director General of NIS Noordin Haji to resign over what he called misleading the presidency and the subsequent loss of lives and destruction of property in the country.
President Ruto on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, officially sent the bill to Parliament for reconsideration, recommending that all the clauses of the Finance Bill 2024 be deleted due to widespread public dissatisfaction with it.
