Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has unleashed scathing criticism against a group of artistes who recently met with his successor, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.
Gachagua, leader of the DCP party, labeled the meeting a betrayal of the Mount Kenya community and warned the artistes to apologise or face serious consequences.
Speaking passionately, Gachagua accused the artistes of being “traitors” who were allegedly paid to mislead the public.
“Our artistes, we are saddened they have become traitors of our community. They were called to Karen by Mr. Money Bags, (Deputy President Kithure Kindiki), and instructed to lie to you that SHA is working. Is it working? That roads are being constructed, that everything is fine in the education sector and they agreed to this,” he charged.
He claimed that local elders had urged him to issue a strong warning.
“Those artistes went to that guy whose hands are tainted with the blood of Gen Zs. When Gen Zs died, he was the Interior CS. That money they are taking is blood money. They were given Sh50,000 to sell us out and lie to us,” Gachagua asserted.
Not stopping there, Gachagua directly threatened the musicians’ main source of income, live performances and online presence.
He called for their cancelling and urged fans to unfollow them on social media.
“In the clubs where they perform, the patrons are there to relax and escape from the hardship Kasongo is putting us through. Yet these artistes want to rub shoulders with the very people causing our misery,” he declared, adding that club owners risk losing customers if they continue booking these musicians.
His fiery remarks come as many of the artistes are already facing public backlash, with a wave of unfollows on their social media pages and unsubscribes on their YouTube channels.
Interestingly, fellow benga artiste Tonny Young, who reportedly skipped the meeting, appears to be benefiting from the controversy with his YouTube channel has seen a notable spike in subscribers as fans rally behind him.
Kindiki had explained that the artistes were at his home seeking government intervention to dismantle exploitative cartels in the industry.
“Musicians and others in the creative space are seeking government intervention to ensure exploitative cartels are removed and their talent is more rewarding,” the deputy president stated.