Since 1964, Kenya has had 10 vice presidents and two deputy presidents. The first was Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who served from 1964 to April 1966. Joseph Murumbi, who succeeded Jaramogi as the second VP, held the office for only 120 days. Under the 2010 Constitution, we've had William Ruto and Rigathi Gachagua.
Two of the vice presidents went on to become president—Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki. Moi, who had been VP for 11 years, was president for 24 years, while Kibaki, who was VP from 1978 to 1988, became the republic's third President, from 2002 to 2013.
William Ruto, who served as the first deputy president under the new Constitution, is the fifth and incumbent president.
Previously, vice presidents were not protected by the law. Most of the power was vested in the president, and that is why Murumbi only served as VP for 120 days and Musalia Mudavadi for 60 days.
But the current Constitution stipulates the powers and functions of the deputy president. The deputy president is protected by law
Article 147 (1) states that the Deputy President shall be the principal assistant of the President and shall deputise for the President in the execution of the President's functions. Clause 2 further states that the Deputy President shall perform the functions conferred by this Constitution and any other functions of the President as the President may assign.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, however, seems to have either ignored the Constitution or has assumed powers he doesn’t have. Over the last seven months, Gachagua has constantly reminded us what former President Uhuru Kenyatta didn’t do right during his tenure.
But he forgets that President Ruto assigned him roles to execute.
Last September, Ruto, through an executive order, assigned DP Gachagua to chair Cabinet committees and oversee the implementation of Cabinet decisions across all ministries.
What decision of the Cabinet has he reported to Kenyans, his employer number One?
Gachagua is supposed to coordinate intergovernmental relations between the national government and county governments and chair the intergovernmental budget and economic council.
He is also supposed to liaise between the constitutional commissions and independent offices in matters that require government intervention, including budgets, policy formation and implementation of their recommendations.
He is in charge of coordination of planning and supervision of development partner-funded programmes and projects and overseeing public sector reforms.
His was supposed to be a very busy office since these six roles require a lot of secondary and desk review research to improve services for Kenyans, both at the national and county level.
Late September 2022, Gachagua met all the governors. What have we achieved from that meeting seven months later? Public funds have been used for the trips, any value for the money?
With a ballooning wage bill, inflation and high taxes, the Kenya Kwanza government must surely realise that whatever it is doing doesn’t build confidence. Anyone leading an economy like ours would have had a lean government, budget cuts on unnecessary expenditures, show an iron fist in fighting theft of public funds and, more importantly, exercise financial prudence.
The things that DP Gachagua is busy with, such as threatening demonstrators and chest-thumping about the power he wields – which is a myth and dangerous to our constitutionalism – will not change the lives of the more than 22 million Kenyans who live on less than Sh200 a day.
Going forward, Kenya needs honest, trustworthy, truthful and authentic leadership that will inspire confidence in every citizen. We have a rich country with the potential to spur development and prosperity in the continent and beyond.
In Africa, we are lagging behind in agriculture, health, education and good governance. Our human development index stands at position 19 in Africa and 152 in the world.
