Gachagua: I Would Be Languishing in Kamiti Prison If We Did Not Win 2022 Election

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says he would be languishing in jail if the Kenya Kwanza coalition did not win the 2022 presidential election.

Speaking in Mathira, Nyeri County on Friday, the deputy president recalled the period before the August 9th, 2022 election, claiming that his opponents orchestrated a scheme to have him incarcerated.

“If it were not for your votes, I would not have become the deputy president. I would have been in Kamiti cooling the porridge, it would have been my fifth month as a convict. I am not sure if you would have paid me a visit,” he said.

Before his election, Gachagua was fighting a Sh7.3 billion graft case. Gachagua was accused of fraudulently receiving Sh7,330,011,265 through three bank accounts at Rafiki Micro-Finance Bank while knowing that the monies were proceeds of crime.
 
In November last year, the Anti-Corruption Court allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to withdraw the case on grounds that the evidence did not meet the threshold required to mount a successful trial.

This came after lead DCI investigator Kuriah Obadiah filed an affidavit claiming that former DCI director George Kinoti forced them to fabricate charges against Gachagua and his co-accused.

Kuria said they were given instructions and fixed timelines to speed up investigations against Gachagua, who was then the MP for Mathira Constituency, despite a lack of satisfactory evidence.

Before the conclusion of investigations, Kuriah alleged, Kinoti directed him and his team to make recommendations that would lead to the arrest and charging of Gachagua.

Gachagua had been charged with conspiracy to commit an offense of corruption, fraudulent acquisition of public property, money laundering, acquisition of proceeds of crime, and conflict of interest.