Former DP Rigathi Gachagua in Kirinyaga, He accused William Ruto criplling the Tea Reforms he fought for while in government. Photo: Rigathi Gachagua X.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has blamed President William Ruto for sabotaging his efforts of creating tea market for Kenyan farmers in the country, by frustrating the sector not only by cutting the budget, but also ignoring the sector after his ouster.
According to Gachagua, the president has cut down the approved KSh 6.9 billion allocation by the Cabinet, for the tea sector to KSh 2 billion in the new Finance Bill of 2025 after a lot of push and pull while he was in the office, while the reforms in the sugar sector allocated KSh 118 billion.
Gachagua said that the allocation was meant to pay debts of farmers in the sector, stating that the new allocation is not enough to pay the farmers and implement what he fought for while in office.
“We did a lot while in government together with leaders from tea farming regions. I had pushed for allocation of KSh 6.9b to pay debts to our tea farmers, which was met with a lot of resistance and difficult, but we ensured that it had been passed. I have seen in the new budget the amount has been cut by KSh 4.9 billion, that is not enough to pay our farmers, what will that do?” He questioned.
Additionally, Gachagua said that the market was further lost following Ruto’s close association with Rapid Support Forces (RFS) paramilitary of Sudan leader Mohamed Dagalo Hamadan alias Hermedit, who plans to overthrow the government leading to the ban of Kenyan tea into Sudan by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
He accused the head of state for being involved in illegal mining with Hermedit, further worsening the situation, as farmer count loses with tea lying in Mombasa Port due to lack of markets.
“We had a good market for tea in Sudan, 15% of our tea was going to Sudan and other countries like Pakistan and Iran, but because Ruto has interfered with the politics by supporting RFS who want to overthrow the government of General Fattah, doing illegal mining business with Hermedit, has led to Sudan banning exportation of our tea in their country,” he said.
Gachagua accused the president for allowing guns to be shipped to Sudan through Kenya, killing the citizens of Sudan, which further contributed to the ban. This follows an exposé by Nation, which showed Kenyan bullets being used in the war in Sudan, a possibility that Kenya is being involved in arming of RFS with guns.
In April, Sudan banned exportation of tea from Kenya after accusing Kenya for interfering with its internal affairs, after Kenya allowed RFS to host a meeting at KICC. However, Sudan has permitted the clearance of 207 containers of tea, each carrying 400 bags, which were stuck at Port Sudan for over three months.
watch video below.
https://youtu.be/LXKj-yc9dtk?
About the Author
