NYERI, Kenya – Supporters of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua held demonstrations in Karatina and parts of Kirinyaga County on Tuesday, protesting what they termed as threats to his life and state intimidation.
Protesters lit bonfires and barricaded roads along the Nyeri–Karatina highway and the Mwea–Embu highway, temporarily paralyzing transport and disrupting businesses in the affected towns. Police later dispersed the demonstrators.
The protests come a day after Gachagua made explosive claims at a press conference, alleging that President William Ruto had ordered for him to be “dealt with once and for all.”
He said that if anything were to happen to him, the president would bear full responsibility.
Gachagua claimed that a team of 101 security officers—including personnel from the National Police Service, National Intelligence Service (NIS), and General Service Unit (GSU)—had been deployed to target him during a church service he attended in Gatanga, Murang’a County.
He further alleged a plot to plant illegal weapons in his vehicles and those of his allies in order to frame them.
“I am not afraid,” Gachagua said. “But the people of Kenya must know that the State has weaponised security agencies against me because I speak the truth.”
The former deputy president has been a vocal critic of the Ruto administration since his impeachment in October 2024 following a bitter fallout with the president.
He has since accused top government officials of corruption, mismanagement, and betrayal of campaign promises.
“I will not stop speaking out,” he said Monday. “That is why they want to silence me.”
