Gachagua distances self from companies he is accused of using to 'corruptly' acquire Sh5.2bn

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has distanced himself from companies that he is accused of using to amass the alleged questionable wealth of Sh5.2 billion in the last two years which is the key ground for his pending impeachment.

Kibwenzi West MP Mwengi Mutuse of the Maendeleo Chap Chap party affiliated to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance has accused Gachagua of amassing a humongous property portfolio primarily suspected to be proceeds of corruption and money laundering.

The MP says the value of the property and the wealth that the DP has acquired is incompatible with his known legitimate income of Sh12 million per year and listed 22 companies that Gachagua allegedly used to acquire the wealth.

The main company that Gachagua is accused of using is Morani Manufacturers Limited.

Gachagua's lawyer Danstan Omari said he has instructions from the company and has responded to parliament attaching copies of CR12 that show the directors of the company since its incorporation to date.

CR12 is the official document from the registrar of companies that confirms directors and shareholders of a company.

According to Omari, the company belonged to former senior police reservist Joshua Waiganjo and it has not been in active business. Second lady Dorcas Gachagua joined the company in June 2022 and her two children Kevin Rigathi and Keith Ikinu, later.

"We have provided bank statements showing that the only sensible transaction that has ever been transacted by that company is when they provided 70 kilogrammes of poultry feed for pigs and they were paid Sh132,000. The transaction was done by Joshua Waiganjo, the sole director," Omari told the media at the Milimani law courts, adding that he attached the CR12.

"Today, that account has only Sh2,232 yet the framers of the charge sheet are saying Gachagua has used this company to the tune of Sh12 billion. We have instructions from the directors of this company, to bring to the attention of this country that this was an impeachment motion that was intended to smear the name of the wife of the DP (Dorcas Rigathi)."

Waiganjo accompanied Omari to the court and the lawyer said Dorcas and her children would have been present to show their annoyance at the accusations in the motion but were held up elsewhere.

Omari said the company had been in operation before Gachagua became the DP and that the company has not transacted even a business of Sh2 since Gachagua became the DP.

The lawyer said he brought that information to the country to show that the movers of the (impeachment) motion were putting a lot of emotional matters to attack the wife of the DP.

"We know very well that under President Uhuru Kenyatta, nobody attacked the children of the deputy president. Nobody went to attack the wife of the DP. But in this motion, the attack is purely not on Riggy G, who can defend himself, it is about his wife and children," Omari charged.

Omari said he is going to petition the court to get the names of the wife and children of Gachagua expunged from the records of parliament.

"The wife of the DP was not elected, she was seduced and was married by Riggy G. She is not in this (impeachment) matter. The children are not elected, they are not born by virtue of an election. They are children by virtue of a marriage relationship between Riggy G and his wife," Omari stated.

"Why drag children, wives, into a matter of politics? It's a serious affront to the constitutional protection of families. We shall be moving to the constitutional court to protect the family under Article 45 that family members, whether of the president or DP, must be protected from political hot air."