Gachagua claims Ruto using terror charges, militia to muzzle dissent

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua yesterday accused President William Ruto of using terrorism charges to stifle dissent even as he accused his administration of overseeing a State-sponsored militia to maim, kill and destroy property and then blame it on leaders perceived to be unfriendly to his administration.

According to Gachagua, anti-government leaders would be blamed for the mayhem caused by the “State-backed militia” and then charged with terrorism in a scheme targeting Mt Kenya to force the region to submit to Ruto’s intimidation.

In an interview, he claimed the Ruto-led administration was on an overdrive to sabotage the economy of the Mt Kenya region and other regions where the president was not receiving political support.

The Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader alleged that during the Saba Saba protests on July 7, the militia working under instructions and guidance from the police were dropped in strategic places in the country and mostly in Mt Kenya to wreak havoc.

“The militia were procured by Mr Ruto, governors and MPs allied to him. These regions included; Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Kisii, Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Meru, Nyandarua, Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Machakos, Embu, Wote. They had clear instructions to loot and destroy specific properties,” he said.

He also alleged that the killer squad of 101 specialists ‘under instructions from National Intelligence Service (NIS) top bosses was armed with assault rifles and drove in a convoy of an unmarked Subarus shooting and killing innocent protesters aimlessly in the streets and estates.

Gachagua claimed the shoot-to-kill order issued by Interior Cabinet Kipchumba Murkomen and his remarks that the government would not cooperate with investigations into police conduct, has emboldened security forces.

“Police officers are now on record threatening citizens in their homes, boasting of their license to kill, acting with a confidence that can only come from the highest echelons of power. Murkomen’s admission that these are not just instructions from him but “orders from above” removes any ambiguity about where responsibility lies,” he said.

Accusing Ruto of turning against the Mt Kenya region that overwhelmingly voted for him in 2022 elections, Gachagua accused the President of destroying the community’s businesses and making them the black sheep of Kenya.

“These state-sponsored militias were key in torching various parts of the country with ease of police assistance to prefer terrorism charges on specific people from the Mt Kenya region. So far, about 50 young people are in courts on trumped-up charges of terrorism in scenarios of stage-managed crimes by the state.”

“Again, this is a clear onslaught on Kikuyus. A case in point is when a police station in Mawego, Homa Bay County was torched, the suspects were charged with arson, but when a police station in Kiambu was torched, suspects were charged with terrorism,” the former Second-in-Command said.

He claimed there was a plot to use the mayhem to blame his allies who include DCP official Mithika Linturi, MPs Mukunji Gitonga (Manyatta) in Kitengela and Ngong, they blame Onesmus Ngogoyo (Kajiado North) John Kaguchia (Mukurwe-ini) and Senators Seki Lenku (Kajiado) and James Murango (Kirinyaga).

“We want to remind President Ruto that it is not kikuyus who want him out of the office. It is the entire people of Kenya. Kenyans are suffering equally across the country. That is why, Kenyans have said, if you, Mr William, believe that it is the kikuyus who want you out, then all Kenyans are Kikuyus,” he added.

At the same time, Gachagua dismissed claims by the President that his rivals were plotting to oust him from power unconstitutionally.

“I saw Ruto boiling with anger, but I tell him that anger is not the solution, he should stop being angry as anger will not help. He needs to know what he needs to do. We advise him that the one-term movement is not getting you out of power outside the constitution. It is a 2027-ballot objective to get you out of the office.

“Mr Ruto, just relax, no leader wants to overthrow you from the government, no one has the capacity. We want to humiliate you from the ballot in 2027. Stop creating narratives to justify the use of trumped up charges against your critics,” Gachagua added.

According to Gachagua, Ruto’s solutions to manage the anger by Kenyans included abolishing housing levy, ending police brutality and ethnic profiling, abolishing the 101 killer squad, honoring the promise of giving jobs to hustlers and ending illegal detentions.

He was responding to Ruto’s claims that similar unrest was not witnessed during Uhuru and Kibaki’s tenures and that the issue of youth unemployment did not start with his administration claiming the issue was prevalent even in his predecessors’ regimes.

Gachagua announced that he will be travelling to the United States to talk to Kenyans in diaspora and the international community on the state of the nation and assured his supporters that he would closely monitor the goings on in the country.