Former President Uhuru Kenyatta is to blame for the takeover of the tea, milk and coffee sectors by cartels, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed.
Gachagua says that Uhuru and his leadership gave the cartels and brokers an ample environment to operate from when he was in State House.
He claims that it is for this reason that farmers suffered most under Uhuru, because he never made any attempt to protect them from the cartels.
But he has announced an end to that, announcing that now that he is in charge, the culprits will have to leave the sector and let farmers enjoy full benefit.
He has said said he was waiting for a team of MPs he had appointed to investigate the source of the problems farmers in the three sectors before jumping into action to tame the situation.
The country’s Second in Command has as well asked Members of Parliament to join in the fight by coming up with laws that will help protect farmers.
“I want you to make good laws, which will protect farmers from exploitation by the middlemen and cartels who have been getting protection from the top leadership in the country for the last five decades,” he said on Saturday, reports The Standard.
This comes only weeks after President William Ruto placed him in charge of overseeing reforms in the three sectors.
Ruto, speaking in Bomet after making the changes, had said that he gave Gachagua the job because of his passion for farmers.
But the same briefly landed Gachagua under mockery, with his critics, like Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, pointing out that he was given a small role compared to what Ruto gave Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
Gachagua’s attacks on Uhuru come at a time when the former Head of State is dealing with several other allegations, including evasion of taxes.
by: Otieno-Onguko