NAIROBI, Kenya- DCP Party Leader Rigathi Gachagua has strongly defended Gen Z Protests, stating that they spoke for Kenyans. Gachagua, who spoke during an interview with an online media platform, painted a picture of the tense moments in a meeting of the National Security Council where he avers that he was against the government’s decision to unleash heavy handedness on dealing with the anti-finance bill protestors.
“I opposed that operation vehemently in the national security council because the issues these children were raising are legitimate,” he said.
“They tried so much to blame me for the Gen-Z revolt, saying that I am behind it simply because I had said that those were my children and they should not be vilified.”
The former Deputy President asserted that he was forced to issue a counter-press conference from Mombasa, a departure from protocols which dictate that he could not speak after the president.
This, he says, was necessitated by President William Ruto’s failure to address the critical issues affecting the nation at the time, including enforced disappearances of protesters as well as the use of brute force by the police that led to several young people losing their lives in the 2024 anti-finance bill protests.
Gachagua similarly took issue with Ruto’s assertions recently that all the abducted youths have been reunited with their families.
According to Gachagua, the president’s statement indicated that he was complicit in the process that saw several youths abducted and held for days with people believed to be security operatives.
