Gachagua: Kanja cannot credibly probe Alex Kiprotich abduction

Former DP Rigathi Gachagua speaking at his Wamunyoro residence in Nyeri County. [File, Standard]

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused the police of shielding senior officers from investigation into Tuesday's abduction of Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich.

His remarks came after Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja denied police involvement in the incident on Wednesday and ordered a probe into the circumstances of the abduction.

Gachagua dismissed the directive as pointless, saying police cannot credibly investigate their own seniors.

"That investigation, like all the others you have ordered, will go nowhere because it was done by police officers outside your command," he said in a statement.

He claimed the National Police Service was under the control of political and administrative figures beyond the Inspector General's office.

Armed men seized Kiprotich along the Gilgil, Nakuru road shortly before 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday as he travelled to Nakuru.

He was found abandoned near Masinga Dam in Machakos County about nine hours later on Wednesday morning, following an overnight search by colleagues and family.

Standard Group said it was the second time in as many months that Kiprotich had been targeted, with an earlier incident reported on June 27, 2026.

Footage of Tuesday's incident showed several masked men, some apparently armed, emerging from a vehicle and pulling Kiprotich from his car before forcing him into theirs.

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has called on Kanja to conduct an immediate, thorough and transparent investigation to establish the circumstances of the incident and identify those responsible.

Gachagua linked the abduction to an investigative story Kiprotich was said to be preparing on Mau Forest evictions, alleging without evidence that evictees had been defrauded of compensation money and that Kiprotich was targeted to stop him publishing his findings.

He also alleged, without providing proof, that the same networks were behind other reported abductions and killings in recent months.

He called on Kanja to first account for the outcomes of previous investigations he had ordered into other high profile cases, including the death of Rachel Wandeto and attacks on churches in Nairobi, before pursuing a new probe into the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) unit he claimed was responsible for Kiprotich's abduction.