NAIROBI, Kenya — The owners of Business Bay Square (BBS Mall) in Eastleigh have petitioned the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to investigate and potentially prosecute former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over remarks they say amount to ethnic contempt, hate speech, and conduct undermining national unity.
In a letter dated January 5 and addressed to NCIC chairperson Dr Samuel Kobia, MMA Advocates, acting on behalf of the mall owners, said Gachagua made inflammatory statements during a church service in Githunguri, Kiambu County, on January 4, which were later widely broadcast by the media.
The letter quotes the remarks as alleging that funds stolen from a disability support programme in Minnesota, United States, were brought to Kenya, invested in properties in Eastleigh, and used to construct a shopping mall. While Gachagua did not name any specific enterprise, the letter argues that:
“Any ordinary and right-thinking person… would understand them as referring, by clear innuendo, to Business Bay Square (BBS Mall), notwithstanding the absence of express reference.”
The mall owners stress that their complaint is not about public discussion of crime but about the framing and foreseeable effects of the remarks:
“The remarks move beyond individualised allegations and invite conclusions of collective ethnic and commercial culpability without evidence, specificity or recourse to due process.”
According to the letter, repeated references to Eastleigh—a neighbourhood closely associated with the Somali community—amounted to a “thinly veiled attribution of criminality” to Somali-owned businesses, contrary to the Constitution and the National Cohesion and Integration Act.
“The effect of these remarks is real, not hypothetical. They threaten the reputation and operations of lawful businesses, destabilize commercial relations, and can inflame ethnic animosity,” the letter says.
The letter also notes that BBS Mall’s reputation for lawful provenance and commercial integrity is central to the confidence of tenants, financiers, insurers, employees, and regulators, and that the stature of the speaker as a former high-ranking official compounds the potential harm.
The mall owners have asked NCIC to investigate the remarks in full context, issue appropriate censure, and refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions if the legal threshold for prosecution is met.
They also urged the Commission to caution media outlets against uncritical repetition of statements “prima facie divisive or capable of stirring ethnic animosity,” warning that continued amplification could undermine national cohesion.
The complaint has also been copied to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
