NAIROBI, Kenya — Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed that officers guarding President William Ruto are demoralised, frustrated and financially strained, alleging that some have gone for four months without allowances amid growing concerns over the President’s security.
Speaking after a National Executive Council meeting of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) in Nairobi, Gachagua said the welfare crisis within the presidential security unit was undermining the officers’ effectiveness and exposing the country to potential instability.
“These officers, for them to attend functions outside town, they have to pay half of their allowances upfront; failure to which they are struck out from the lists,” Gachagua claimed.
“That notwithstanding, they have not been paid their allowances for four months now. Please pay your security. They are unhappy. They cannot concentrate. Their families have no food on the table,” he added.
The DCP leader linked the alleged frustrations among security officers to a series of recent incidents in which President Ruto has been accosted or targeted during public engagements.
Gachagua cited events in Migori, Kibra, Mombasa, Wajir and the latest security breach in Ganze, Kilifi County, where a man managed to approach President Ruto during a public function before being subdued by security personnel.
According to the former Deputy President, poor coordination and internal discontent within the security apparatus have weakened the President’s protection detail.
He also accused President Ruto of allegedly politicising and ethnicising the security sector by sidelining experienced officers from other regions and replacing them with loyalists.
“The President himself… is so afraid to be guarded by professionals from other parts of Kenya. He took power and chased professionals and put in his tribesmen to guard him,” Gachagua alleged.
The former Deputy President further claimed that security chiefs had privately expressed frustrations over the leadership of Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
“The Security Chiefs have informed me in confidence that they do not know what to do with this man who is thoughtless, clueless and completely out of touch,” he said in reference to Murkomen.
Gachagua warned that continued negligence in managing the country’s security sector could have dangerous consequences, recalling the 1994 Rwanda tragedy as an example of how political instability can quickly spiral out of control.
