Another Rigathi ally quizzed over protests

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addresses PCEA Church, Kayole on July 21, 2024. [DPCS, Standard]

Another Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s ally was Wednesday grilled over the protests that rocked the country for a month. 

Sources indicated that Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru alias Major Donk was Wednesday evening summoned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters where he was questioned over his role in the protests. 

On Tuesday, three officers working at Gachagua’s Karen office were interrogated, with reports indicating that they recorded statements.

The grilling, sources indicated, has been taking place for a week where a total of seven officers were quizzed. 

Another MP from Nairobi, sources said, had failed to honour DCI summons and will now have to be hunted down while an opposition lawmaker is also in the crosshairs of the sleuths who believe he financed the invasion of Parliament. 

Among those who have been investigated include Gachagua’s Chief of Staff, Private Secretary Munene Wa Mumbi and former Nyeri MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, who works as the DP’s political adviser. It is understood that another three staff members at the DP’s Karen office were also questioned.

A source at the DP’s office said the investigations began a week ago and the sleuths seemed to have narrowed down to the three top officials.

“We were grilled separately; the DCI headquarters would summon you and you would be questioned privately... this has been ongoing for over a week now,” said an official who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The source said that the DCI officers were keen on cash transactions done by the officers at Gachagua’s office.

DCI officers said they had intelligence reports of massive funding for the demonstrations and there were suspicions that the DP’s office could have been involved.

The source said that the DCI officers were keen to find out if there was any involvement of the DP’s office in the Nairobi, Kirinyaga and Nyeri protests, which they believe were sponsored.

Another official at the DP’s office said that the DCI had wanted to establish foreign trips they had made and the reasons.

The investigation on the role of Gachagua’s office in the demonstrations came after the DP publicly blamed NIS Director General Noordin Haji for not making available intelligence on the nationwide protests, and called for his resignation.

“It is embarrassing that it had to take protests, deaths and destruction of properties for the President to realise the extent of the problem. NIS embarrassed the President,” he claimed.

The grilling of officers came five days after Laikipia East Member of Parliament Mwangi Kiunjuri alleged that the June 25, 2024 invasion of Parliament was financed by a government-affiliated office.

In an interview on Inooro TV, Kiunjuri claimed that four MPs from the Mt Kenya region organised about 25,000 individuals to protest in Nairobi’s Central Business District. 

He suggested that Gen Z had their version of “Occupy Parliament,” but there were people who were allegedly paid to attempt and overthrow the government.

“The office that funded the protests is known by the government. A pig fries itself with its own fat,” he said, without naming the four MPs allegedly involved.

He noted that the anti-government protests were primarily concentrated in the Mt Kenya region, unlike in other areas.

“It was the first time we were seeing protests infiltrate smaller towns such as Nyeri and Nanyuki. In other regions, like Rift Valley, protests occurred in towns such as Eldoret but not in the interior parts of the region,” he said

In Kisumu, he added, the protests were limited to Migori, whereas in Mt Kenya, the protests were widespread.

“We burnt our own people’s property,” he lamented.

On Monday, the President accused a few people who he did not name of organising the protests and causing deaths to pursue their selfish interests, vowing that he would defend the Constitution.

“We will never allow a few people to cause mayhem, anarchy, destroy property, burn down government buildings. We must stand together as Kenyans to defend our democracy and to defend our nation. Kenya is a democratic country where Kenyans decide their leadership right from MCA to the President, the leadership of this country is not decided on violence, social media, protests, chaos and deaths but on the basis of democracy,” he said while on a Kwale visit.