Rigathi Gachagua Narrates What Happened in Limuru; ‘I Was Attacked as I Went to My Car’

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has spoken out after an attack against him during a funeral in Limuru on Thursday.

The DP, in a lengthy statement, revealed that the goons approached him while heading to his car and subsequently stoned it and hit it with iron bars.

“Today, I was at a funeral service in Limuru for a young man called Erastus Nduati. While we were preparing to lay the young man to rest goons attacked us and the other mourners who were present, including children,” Gachagua stated. 

Here is Gachagua’s full statement;

As Kenyans are well aware earlier this week the government withdrew the final aspects of my security that was in place after the impeachment process we are contesting.

However we did not raise issue with this decision by government although expectations were that any Kenyan who has served at the level of government that I was privileged to serve at, would be secured by government even after leaving office.

However it now looks like the decision to withdraw my security was to leave me exposed to the kind of attack we have witnessed today.

Today, I was at a funeral service in Limuru for a young man called Erastus Nduati. While we were preparing to lay the young man to rest goons attacked us & the other mourners who were present, including children. The gangsters were armed with stones, machetes, iron bars and sticks.

They descended randomly on mourners present and attacked them using the weapons they had.  A specific group followed me as I went to my car, which they proceeded to attack with stones and iron bars. We literally drove out of the venue under a hail of rocks!

This is very sad state of affairs and a major low for the state, who were clearly complicit in these actions. We just especially remember the family that had a loved one in a casket, who had to run to safety despite their profound grief.

We will not be scared away from standing with Kenyans who need us to support them in their moments of need. We just expect such a terrible moment of shame will not be repeated.

The goons descended on the tent reserved for senior congregants just before Gachagua was set to give his address prompting the crowd to flee for safety.

According to reports, several people also sustained critical injuries with the photos of the event further showing plastic chairs scattered on the ground.

After the attack, Gachagua’s close ally and Kiambu senator Karung’o Thangwa came out and assured the public of the former DP’s safety. 

Thang’wa, in a statement released some hours after the incident, downplayed some fears that the former DP might have suffered injuries following the incident. 

”It was an assassination attempt. But the people’s Deputy President is safe. Thank you so much people of Limuru for ensuring our safety. We will not be intimidated or silenced—now we know!” Thang’wa stated.

The alleged attack on Gachagua follows his bitter fallout with President Ruto who he has now accused of the various problems facing the country. He also took a swipe at Ruto’s style of leadership,

Speaking during a church service at the AIPCA, Gachagua hit out at the Head of State for failing to heed his advice on the Adani Group deals. According to the former DP, despite warning Ruto over the deal, the president failed to listen to his advice.

Gachagua claimed that during his time in the Cabinet he was viewed as an enemy of the people whenever he tried to give Ruto his opinion over some of the government deals.

“I told the president this Adani deal was plagued with flaws and the people did not want it, and he despised me for it. And it was put out to look like I was opposing government projects,” Gachagua said.

He added, “Whenever Cabinet Secretaries were in disagreement, they used to ask me to tell the President. Nobody can tell the president this is not right.