NAIROBI, Kenya- Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revealed how he gathers information on government affairs, saying he relies on a network of informants across the public service and only discloses claims after conducting extensive verification.
Speaking during a podcast interview with political analyst Herman Manyora on Friday night, Gachagua said his sources include civil servants, police officers, National Intelligence Service (NIS) personnel and employees of state corporations.
He said he has instructed those who share information with him to provide only facts that can be independently verified in order to protect his credibility.
“I have asked civil servants, police officers, National Intelligence Service officers and people working in parastatals to preserve my credibility by giving me information that is verifiable,” Gachagua said.
The former deputy president said safeguarding the identity of his sources remains critical to maintaining the flow of information.
“I also have a lot of information and I sometimes don’t rush into it. I do a lot of cross-checking because the day I mislead Kenyans, I’ll lose my credibility,” he said.
Gachagua cited his recent allegations surrounding the renewal of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) agreement as an example of how information reaches him.
According to Gachagua, individuals he described as emissaries approached him over a weekend and discreetly shared information they believed was in the public interest. He said he advised them on how to meet him without attracting attention before deciding to make the claims public.
He reiterated allegations he has previously made that senior government officials sought a bribe from British authorities during negotiations over the renewal of the BATUK agreement.
The former deputy president claimed his public remarks prompted action, after which the agreement was eventually renewed.
He further alleged that Belgut MP Nelson Koech, who chairs the National Assembly’s Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, was later tasked with explaining the delay in renewing the agreement.
However, both Koech and the government have dismissed the allegations.
Koech has maintained that the delay was occasioned by discussions over the legal framework governing British troops operating in Kenya, including matters relating to legal jurisdiction, immunity and accountability, and not the claims made by Gachagua.
The former deputy president said he does not use information obtained from his sources for personal benefit.
“If you give me information, it will be in the public domain within a short time. I will not use it to extort money or blackmail anybody,” he said.
Gachagua has increasingly used public interviews, media appearances and political rallies to make claims about government operations since his fallout with President William Ruto’s administration.
During the interview, he also referred to his recent assertion, made hours before President Ruto’s special national address, that the Head of State would unveil a new long-term national development blueprint beyond Vision 2030.
When President Ruto later announced plans for a nationwide conversation to develop Kenya’s next long-term development agenda, Gachagua cited the development as further evidence that his sources provide him with reliable information.
