Why I address rallies in Kikuyu – Gachagua

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has why he is fond of using his mother tongue, whenever he is addressing people from the Mt Kenya region.

Speaking on Friday, Gachagu said that all that matters is that his target audience understands him.

“Communication is not what you say, it’s being understood… You talk to people in a language that they understand better,” he said.

He dismissed critics who say that the DP speaking in Kikuyu amounts to playing tribal politics.

The DP insisted that he’s best understood when he speaks in Kikuyu in meetings where the majority are people from his community.

On Friday, the second in command spent the better part of the day interaction with traders at Gikomba, OTC, Nyamakima, Tea Room, and Marikiti areas in Nairobi.

During this visit, Gachagua addressed most of the traders in Kikuyu dialect.

He said that it does not prick his conscience to speak to people in his mother tongue now that he’s a public servant who should be held to the same standards as the President, who is the symbol of national unity.

He insisted the fact that he’s the Deputy President does not override his heritage and where he comes from.

“My language remains intact. Communication is about being understood, it doesn’t matter what language you speak. You speak that language that people understand,” Gachagua said.

The DP said, he only used his mother tongue sparingly at the Wakulima market.

“I spoke 70 per cent in Swahili and 30 per cent I spoke in Kikuyu because the majority asked me to speak in Kikuyu. We have some mothers there who don’t understand Kiswahili properly,” Gachagua said.