Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has made claims regarding an assassination attempt on a former National Intelligence Service (NIS) officer. In an interview with Kikuyu vernacular radio stations, Gachagua revealed that the ex-NIS official, whom he had hired to assist in combating illicit brew, was targeted by hired assassins.
The Deputy President stated that the NIS officer, dismissed from the service, was shot by a motorbike assailant as he left his home in Kileleshwa. “To intimidate me, someone shot at him, but the bullet missed his head and struck his shoulder. He spent a week in a Nairobi hospital where the bullet was removed,” Gachagua recounted. Despite the severity of the incident, the assassin remains at large.
Gachagua accused certain state entities, particularly the NIS and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), of being used to intimidate him. He further alleged that his phone calls and those of his associates were being intercepted and recorded. “Every person I call, our conversations are tapped and recorded. Then they ask them what they want from me, and I am the Deputy President,” he claimed.
The Deputy President has previously accused NIS Director Noordin Hajji of complacency and providing misleading information to President William Ruto, particularly during protests against the controversial Finance Bill 2024. Gachagua called for Hajji’s resignation, criticizing his management of the NIS and the dismissal of key officials, which he claimed left the service ineffective.
Gachagua also spoke about his now amicable relationship with former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his mother, Mama Ngina Kenyatta. He stated that Uhuru had become his friend after accepting his apology for derogatory remarks made during the election period. “Uhuru, Mama Ngina, and the mountain people accepted my apology. Uhuru became my friend, and besides speaking more often, there are things we are doing together,” Gachagua told the media.
In March 2024, Gachagua publicly apologized to the former First Lady for involving her in the harsh politics of the 2022 General Elections. “I am sorry for involving Mama Ngina Kenyatta in the last general elections politics. She is our mother. I therefore ask for forgiveness on behalf of our team for any inconvenience caused to her,” he said.
Gachagua’s previous attacks on Mama Ngina included demands for her to surrender half of the Kenyatta family’s land estate to Mau Mau veterans and their descendants, alleging the land was acquired unlawfully.
