Ousted Vice President Rigate Gachagwa insisted he remains in office citing court orders, even as he claimed his ouster came after two failed assassination attempts.
Mr Gachagwa blamed his plight on confronting President William Ruto over problems in government, including the controversial multibillion-shilling deals handed to the Indian conglomerate Adani Group and punitive taxes in the 2024 Finance Bill, which was withdrawn after public outcry. And unbridled corruption.
He claimed to have survived food poisoning twice at the hands of people believed to be National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents in late August and early September this year.
Speaking on Sunday after being discharged from Karen Hospital, Mr Gachagwa said his state security had been withdrawn, that he feared for his life and that if anything happened to him, President Ruto must be held accountable.
He appeared in public for the first time since falling ill on Thursday and was taken to hospital hours before a court appearance during his ouster trial in the Senate. Looking weak but determined, surrounded by his wife and family, Gachagua said the fight to retain his seat was still a long way off. Finish.
The Senate voted to remove him from office after upholding the charges brought against him by the National Assembly, but the state’s plan to swear in his replacement, Interior Minister Kithor Kindiki, on Saturday, a day after the National Assembly approved the president’s nomination, was derailed. By the courts that suspended the implementation of the Senate decision.
“I want to tell the people of Kenya that I do not feel safe. For the first time, let me say that on August 30, 2024, in Kisumu, secret security agents entered my room in Kisumu and bugged it. “Someone tried to poison my food but we found out… On September 3, 2024 in Nyeri, another team came to Nyeri and tried to poison the food that was meant for me and the Kikuyu Council of Elders,” Mr. Gachagwa alleged.
He said he then reported these attempts to the intelligence service and asked the officers assigned to his office to leave because he “did not feel safe.”
It is believed that the failed assassination attempts paved the way for his removal.
House of Representatives spokesman, Hussein Mohammed, had not responded to these allegations made by Mr. Gachagwa at the time of publication.
Mr. Gachagwa further revealed that shortly after his security was withdrawn, some agents, believed to be from the National Intelligence Service, were sent to search for him in the hospital and “they were hovering in the hospital compound and all the rooms.”
“…So much so that I had to call my wife and children to come and stay in my room just in case they came into my room or compromised the people who were treating me. So, Rejathi Gachagwa and his family feel very exposed because these people tried to kill us before. Now they have tried to get us out of Our positions.”
Also during this press conference, the ousted representative recounted what happened to him before he was taken to the hospital last Thursday when the Senate was discussing the motion to impeach him.
He said he developed severe chest pains shortly after leaving the Senate, and called his doctor of the past two decades, Dr. Dan Gikonyo of Karen Hospital.
“I told him about my symptoms, and he asked me how severe the pain was. While we were talking, I started to feel short of breath, and he ordered me to go to Karen Hospital as soon as possible, because my symptoms were worrying.”
Then he quickly rushed to his car and took him directly to the hospital. By the time he arrived, he was in severe pain and struggling to breathe.
He found Dr. Gikonyo and his paramedics waiting for him, and he was quickly examined and admitted for observation and possible treatment.
“After the situation stabilized, Dr. Gikonyo told me that if I had arrived just 20 minutes later, we would have been discussing a completely different story. I am grateful for the excellent care I received from him and his team. Although he would have preferred me to stay longer for observation, I insisted on returning to Home, because he thought my condition was stable enough to continue my recovery there.
However, he admitted that he feels weak but has generally improved as the severe pain subsides and thanked well-meaning Kenyans for their prayers and support during his illness.
Mr Gachagwa then threw a missile at President Ruto, accusing him of hatching a plan to replace him “with someone who will be the remote control and who will have to sign an undated resignation letter and ask him to leave when he asks questions.”
He said his problems were simply because he is an honest man who will not be upset under the nose of the Head of State when the Cabinet issues decisions that he believes are harmful to Kenyans.
“The framers of the 2010 Constitution were clear about the need for an elected vice president. I am the only man in the Cabinet and the entire government who can stand up to William Ruto and tell him, “Brother, this is not right. This aggressive order is not good for the country, there is too much corruption. This housing order has been imposed on the people of Kenya and they don’t want it, So please don’t force it on them. We are in a situation where the tender for medical equipment that the Kenyans were supplying to the Ministry of Health has now been awarded to one Asian. I told him: “Mr. President, we are killing our people’s businesses.”
His hope is now in the judiciary after his lawyers went to court to defend his case after the Senate rejected his request to temporarily halt his impeachment proceedings until he recovered. However, this appeal was not approved as the Senate decided to discuss and vote on his impeachment a few hours after he was hospitalized.
“The 11 charges (presented in the impeachment motion) are nothing but malice and fantasy. It was a political game by the president to get rid of me. Looking back, I don’t think the president had any intention of working with me; I think he only needed me to help him win the elections because of my ability to mobilize and the belief that Mt Kenya had in me. “I think I should have been given a fair opportunity to defend myself.”
He wondered why this proposal, which was not time-bound because it had not been discussed by a select committee which should have had 10 days and then followed by a report to the plenary, was rushed, while his case was before the plenary and therefore had no time limits.
The impeached vice president then likened the speed with which he was removed to the life of a folk hero, Simon Makonde, who was born on a Monday and buried by Sunday.
“The speed with which Rigathi Gachagwa is being removed from office is alarming. If such efficiency had been applied in running the affairs of the country, Kenyans would have been happier. The framers of the Constitution gave 74 days for this process, but it was completed in just half a day. This seems to be a rush “It circumvents justice and prevents the courts from examining the matter.”
He then recounted how he initially went to court but was instructed that he must first wait for the parliamentary process for his impeachment to be completed lest the courts interfere in the process.
Now that the legislature has completed its end, the ousted Democratic representative said that he has fully returned to the court and expressed his hope for a fair decision.
“I urge the President to comply with the court orders, as Reigathi Gachagwa remains the Vice President. Why am I being denied access to official vehicles and security? Why is my office rendered dysfunctional? Asked.
He then said that efforts were being made to prevent him from attending Mashuja Day celebrations in Kwale, revealing that Wilson Airport management had been instructed not to allow him to use the airport to travel to the place for the national holiday.
He added that helicopter owners had been warned not to provide transportation for him, a move he said reeked of malice.
The country’s impeached No. 2 then wondered aloud what kind of mistake anyone could make that could turn a former friend into a dangerous enemy as quickly as President Ruto had turned on him.
The fact that all these things happened to him at a time when he was fighting for his life made him very much question his trust in the head of state who he said he helped secure the highest office in the country.
“No one trusted him (President Ruto) when we were forming the UDA (ruling party). Everyone, like Moses Wetangula (Ford-Kenya leader), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), and even Amos Kingi (PAA) insisted on signing the Memorandum of understanding! I am the only one who did not sign because I trust him.”
However, Mr Gachagwa said he did not hold grudges with anyone and had only one request for President Ruto. To leave him and his family alone.
“Do what you want but let me live. Let me take care of my children. You can do what you want with the country but let me leave because I was there for you when you needed someone to be there for you. When you were in trouble and needed a man to stand with you, I stood with you and my family,
“You have paid us in kind by being cruel and evil against us. We are simple people. We are a very small family. Let us be so. Do what you want, but please, Mr. President, I beg you, do not kill us, do not kill my children. You have caused me what Enough of the pain over the past year let God take care of me I don’t have to have security or divers or cars please let me have my peace if nothing else and remember I was there for you when you needed me. To a man who will be there for you.
He then called on Chief Justice Martha Kumi to adhere to the fidelity of the Kenyan Constitution and ensure that Kenya is a country governed by the rule of law and “allow the court process to take place and ensure that this process is not invalid.” . There are orders demanding that Rigate Gachagua remain in office until this matter is heard and determined. So be it,” he concluded his speech before returning to his home in a private car without any kind of security or escort.
A testament to the changing tides of a man who just days ago went to the Senate with a procession of state-funded vehicles and bystanders clearing the way for him.
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