Gachagua life in danger? Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed there is a plot to assassinate him.
In a scathing letter to Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, Gachagua accuses the government of deliberately withdrawing his security to expose him to harm.
He details violent attacks at public events and blames state agencies for enabling the chaos. His warning paints a grim picture of political revenge, state abandonment, and targeted intimidation.
Gachagua’s bold claims now shine a harsh light on Kenya’s political climate and the treatment of dissenting voices within the former ruling elite.
Gachagua Life in Danger: Ex-DP Accuses State of Plotting His Assassination
Rigathi Gachagua, Kenya’s impeached former deputy president, is not staying silent. In a letter dated April 15, Gachagua boldly accused Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja of ignoring his security concerns and enabling criminal acts against him.
He described the move to withdraw his state security as a clear plot to expose him to danger. Gachagua warned that the government was playing with fire.
“You are clearly perpetuating crime and violence,” Gachagua wrote. “Your silence is the loudest ever.”
Gachagua said his private security has had to step in where state protection failed. During a church service in Mwiki, chaos erupted, forcing his guards to fire warning shots into the air. The attackers, he claims, were organized goons sent to cause harm.
He went on to list a trail of violent incidents that he says were targeted at him. One example was on December 28, 2024, when a teargas canister was thrown during his event in Nyandarua.
Another was on April 6, 2025, at PCEA Kasarani East Parish, where Gachagua again found himself under threat.
Gachagua’s Demands to the State – He Wants Accountability and State Protection Restored
Gachagua’s demands are clear. He wants the Inspector General to:
Arrest and prosecute all those behind the violent attacks.
Guarantee security at any public function he attends.
Stop interference with public gatherings involving his supporters.
Cease surveillance from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and other security bodies.
Protect his homes and properties, which he claims are under threat.
He reminded the IG of Article 245 of the Constitution, which mandates the independent command of the National Police Service. “You dine in the oligarchy and anarchism of the current unpopular regime,” Gachagua fired in his letter.
Gachagua’s tone throughout the letter is combative and unapologetic. He appears determined to expose what he calls “state-sponsored thuggery” and is not shying away from pointing fingers at President Ruto’s administration.
DCI Response Sparks More Questions Than Answers
Following the Mwiki church incident, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) released a statement defending the absence of police at the event.
The DCI said there was no prior notice of political leaders attending the church, and thus, no security arrangements had been made.
But Gachagua isn’t buying that. He insists that the withdrawal of his official security is not an accident. To him, it’s part of a larger, dangerous plan to eliminate him politically—and physically.
“They want me silenced,” he says. “They want me gone. But I will not be intimidated.”
Is the State Silencing Dissent?
Most of his supporters are now asking a troubling question—is Gachagua being punished for falling out with the regime?
After his dramatic impeachment in October 2024, Gachagua has remained a vocal critic of President William Ruto’s government. His recent rallies and church visits have drawn large crowds and renewed interest in his political comeback.
But with his latest claims, the focus has shifted from politics to survival. If indeed his life is at risk, as he says, then Kenya’s democracy may be entering a dangerous chapter.
Ready, that is the statement of the government as Kenya is prepared to dispatch several hundred police officers from the multinational force to Haiti.
This is the first cohort of officers who have already received appropriate training and been recalled from leave this week, according to information reported by the New York Times (NYT) on Tuesday.
Kenya will deploy close to 1,000 police officers to Haiti for a peace enforcement mission, just 14 days before President William Ruto’s state visit to the United States on May 23, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The American newspaper reports that the selection process for officers to be deployed happened last year in October.
Citing insider information, it’s reported that some 400 officers were chosen for the first deployment and began training, with an additional 100-member support staff that includes medics. Another, similarly sized group would also prepare to deploy soon.
The officers said they received physical and weapons training from Kenyan and American security personnel and were given details about how Haitian gangs operate.
They also took French classes and lessons on human rights and Haiti’s history. The police officers said they were aware of previous failed international interventions in Haiti. But they argued that those interventions had been largely viewed by Haitians as occupation forces, while their goal is to support the local police and protect civilians.
Besides the prestige that comes with serving abroad, officers said the additional pay that comes with their service is another motivation.
The officers were chosen from Kenya’s General Service Unit and the Administration Police, two paramilitary units tasked with dealing with everything from riots and cattle rustling to protecting borders and the president.
Other countries involved in Haiti
The multi-national force mission, sanctioned by the UN Security Council, will be spearheaded by the Kenyan police and is aimed at curbing gang violence in Haiti following the installation of a new American-backed transitional government.
More than 100 Air Force aircraft are expected to arrive and leased by the U.S. Department of State.
In that context, the Haitian National Police (PNH) could be receiving reinforcements from foreign troops since May 26.
So far, seven countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean have shown their willingness to provide men for the Multinational Security Support Mission, which will be deployed in Haiti.
These countries are Kenya – which offered to lead the operations – Benin and Chad among Africans; Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados among the Caribbean countries, as well as Bangladesh. Suriname recently announced that it will send a group of troops to Haiti.
Among the nations mentioned, Chad and Bangladesh have experience in international deployments in peace missions, but the United Nations (UN) has always made it clear that now the task will be to support the PNH in the fight against armed gangs.
Jitters
However, Kenyans are increasingly getting jittery about the mission. In January a Kenyan court rejected the plan to send police officers to Haiti.
Kenya had initially aimed to enter Haiti in early January, but legal obstacles and a power vacuum delayed the plan.
Despite facing challenges, Nairobi, according to President Ruto, remains committed to sending its forces to the gang-afflicted Caribbean nation to help restore order.
The Miami Herald reported last week that American civilian contractors have begun arriving in Haiti to assist in preparing for the arrival of Kenyan police, according to a top official from the administration of US President Joe Biden.
A U.S. military cargo plane arrived on Saturday at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. An operations base for the international mission is being set up at the airport.Credit…Odelyn Joseph/Associated Press
The Pentagon, already having committed Sh26 billion to support the mission, is tasked with preparing a base for the incoming forces.
According to Todd D. Robinson, the US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, an initial deployment of Kenyan police officers is being coordinated to coincide with the arrival of Ruto in Washington later this month.
State visit
The White House confirmed that Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Ruto and his wife Rachel for a state visit on May 23, commemorating the 60th anniversary of US-Kenya diplomatic relations.
Robinson declined to give an exact date or the number of officers to be deployed as part of the long-awaited multinational security support mission.
Washington is reported to have transported civilian contractors to support the Pentagon to build out the area where the Kenyan support mission will stay while in Haiti.
But Republican lawmakers in Congress have ignored a request by the State Department to release Sh5 billion of the Sh13 billion it has pledged to support the mission.
The American administration has been criticised for not giving lawmakers clear details about the force. UN member states have shown reluctance towards the mission, possibly signalling fatigue within the international community regarding interventions in Haiti.
Despite the substantial funding required for the mission, countries are seemingly turning a blind eye, with the UN deployment fund currently at only Sh2 billion.
“The funds were provided by Canada, France, and the United States,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
He noted that Kenya, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica had notified the UN Secretary-General in writing of their intention to provide boots, as requested by the UN Security Council.
The Haitian police, having been outgunned and outnumbered, have struggled to curb gang violence. In some cases, they’ve been unable to stop invasions of neighbourhoods and the takeover of police stations as the gangs tightened their grip on the capital Port-au-Prince.
The police have succeeded in fighting back attempts to take over the National Palace, the Central Bank, and the international airport, which they’ve protected with help from members of the small Haitian Army.
Frank Elbe, director general of the Haiti National Police, indicated that since the attacks began on February 29, his officers had not only engaged in combat with the gangs but also constructed a buffer zone surrounding the airport.
Elbe’s residence was set on fire by gangs during the chaos. “
We’ve reinforced the security perimeter inside and outside of the airport,” he said.
“The police have carried out a lot of operations that have allowed for improvements in the security at the airport. We’ve also demolished a lot of houses.”
He said the goal is to build the confidence needed for US airlines to resume commercial flights to Haiti, which have been suspended since March 4.
“The second phase of our strategy is to dismantle the gangs and create a space where the government can provide services to neighbourhoods once occupied by gangs,” he said.
That is where the foreign forces, led by Kenya, will help, Elbe said.
“They can help us in the operations that we are going to do to dismantle the gangs.”
While Ruto’s government says Kenya is now ready to deploy to Haiti, some fear the mission will fail as not enough police officers will be sent to fight the gangs.
Haitian gang leaders have vowed to fight the deployment, raising concerns of even worse violence in a country where thousands of people have been killed in recent months and more than 350,000 have fled their homes in the past year.
Ruto’s critics have accused him of illegally pursuing the deployment and not publishing a document stipulating how Kenyan forces can operate in Haiti. They also plan to file another legal challenge accusing his administration of contravening earlier court orders around the mission.
International obligations
Ruto cites the need to support a “mission for humanity” and ensure Kenya fulfils its international obligations.
He commissioned church leaders to meet with Haitian law enforcement, military representatives, and a gang leader to discuss Kenya’s security mission.
In March, as armed groups escalated their insurgency in the capital Port-au-Prince and plunged Haiti deeper into a historic humanitarian crisis, Kenyan pastors advising President Ruto’s government met for three days at a hotel in Nairobi to pray for the police officers.
In a serene sky-blue conference room within the confines of the Weston Hotel, three Kenyan pastors convened with Haitian and American ministry leaders alongside Kenya’s ‘praying’ First Lady Rachel Ruto.
In 2021, assassins killed former Haitian President Jovenel Moise at his residence in Port-au-Prince. In late February, gang-related violence halted operations at the country’s main airport, leaving several police officers dead and paralysing the capital.
Three police officers and a Cameroonian citizen have been arrested in connection to a robbery with violence incident reported in Nairobi’s Eastleigh Saturday morning.
According to Police reports, the three officers, all attached to Kayole Police Station, alongside the Cameronian foreigner are alleged to have accosted some two Eastleigh residents to a lodging, where they stole Sh6 million at gun point.
According to police, Sh3.5 million was recovered. Police nabbed them shortly after the incident when one of the victims raised alarm attracting response from police officers patrolling the area.
“They all had a Jericho pistol loaded with 38 live bullets” a police report stated .
The arrested police officers were in a gang of six.
A police constable assigned to the Kayole Police Station and one other accomplice whose identity is yet to be established managed to escape.
The four suspects arrested on Friday are being detained at the Pangani Police Station ahead of arraignment on Monday.
This is coming days after, another three police officers were arrested along Nairobi-Garissa highway while transporting 245 kilos of bhang on Wednesday.
Two of those who were nabbed are detectives based at Wajir County while the third one was a general duty police officer.
That doesn’t end here. Another five police officers are battling fraud cases following the September Sh72 million ATM heist in Nairobi West.
And mid last month, flying squad sleuths arrested yet another three officers in Busia town while in possession of fake currency amounting to more than Sh4 million.
Those who are supposed to keep law and order have now turned to be the frontiers in breaking the same laws and to make the matter worse, using government assigned guns.
