NAIROBI, Kenya – Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called on the international community to closely monitor developments in Kenya following the alleged abduction and torture of Juja MP George Koimburi, a vocal government critic.
Speaking outside Karen Hospital, where the MP is receiving treatment, Gachagua said the incident marks a disturbing escalation in what he claims is an emerging pattern of intimidation targeting dissenting lawmakers.
“Let me appeal to the international community to take a great interest in what is happening in Kenya,” said Gachagua. “We’ve seen similar things in countries like Tanzania — the suppression of civil society — and now it’s creeping into Kenya.”
Koimburi, a key political ally of the former deputy president, was found on Monday morning dumped in a coffee plantation in Jacaranda, Kibichoi, Kiambu, nearly 12 hours after his family reported him missing from the Mugutha area.
He was allegedly abducted in full view of congregants at a local church.
Though police have denied involvement, they have launched an investigation into the incident, stating that preliminary findings suggest the MP may have staged his own disappearance.
Forensic samples have been sent to various laboratories for analysis.
But Gachagua rejected those claims, instead accusing the government of orchestrating a broader campaign to silence opposition voices.
He alleged that Koimburi was “badly beaten, tortured, and injected with a chemical” that affected his vocal cords.
“Doctors have confirmed Koimburi was subjected to torture. He cannot speak. A chemical was administered through inhalation and it has affected his vocal cords,” Gachagua said. “The doctors are doing everything to ensure he is out of danger.”
The former DP also claimed that security details of opposition MPs were being withdrawn — a move he says is designed to intimidate them into political silence.
“Bodyguards of MPs opposed to the regime have been disarmed so that the lawmakers they are attached to feel vulnerable and stop going for meetings,” he said.
Koimburi’s alleged abduction has raised alarm across political circles and civil society groups, with calls for an independent investigation into the incident and broader concerns about the state of political freedoms in the country.
