Five(5) gang attacks, zero arrests, zero court cases and zero commitment by National Police Service to end violence in political competition defines what former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has undergone for the past three(3) months.

It started on November 28, 2024, a month after he was impeached after serving as Deputy President for just two(2) years.

Mr Gachagua was attending a burial ceremony in Limuru Constituency when a group of armed youths raided the tent he was seated and within 10 minutes, he had successfully escaped serious harm to his body after his vehicle was attacked with rocks, chairs, and metal bars.

He was later to be attacked by use of a teargas canister while in Nyandarua County on December 28, 2024.

The third attack involved his wife Dorcas Rigathi who was attending a prayer meeting on January 19, 2025, in Nyeri County.

Former Mungiki chief Mr Maina Njenga accompanied by a horde of youths forced her to flee the venue as some of the youths took away the chair that had been reserved for Mr Gachagua and threw it away.

Mr Gachagua who was heading to the prayer meeting had to make a hasty retreat and from the comfort and safety of his social media platforms said "this is the lowest a government can stoop to unleash gangs into a prayer meeting in the name of political competition".

On March 23, 2025, a gang temporarily blocked Mr Gachagua from leaving the ACK Cathedral in Nyeri town.

The latest gang attack happened last Sunday at PCEA Mwiki in Nairobi County where gunshots rent the air as Gachagua security detail repulsed the gang's.

Security and political commentators term the situation as risky, a dance with the devil of violence and a blemish on the national flag that requires unity under the rule of law.

Yet, as Gachagua continues to be countered using these gangs that operate with unusual bravery, meticulous show of force and exhibiting all the confidence of being well connected, political pundits are warning of how he himself is reacting by trying to milk maximum capital out of his misfortunes.

"Mr Gachagua is having a field day dragging Inspector General of Police Mr Douglas Kanja in the mud of impunity declaring without offering proof that the police boss blesses the attacks," says Political Scientist John Okumu.

Mr Okumu adds that "of late Mr Gachagua has been invoking the dirty memories of 2007/2008 Post Election violence where he keeps on saying there are people who want to burn children, elderly, women and the disabled in churches".

Mr Okumu says "president William Ruto should take note that both Mr Kanja and Mr Gachagua are not serving any security or democratic aspect of the common good and since the buck stops at the Chief Executive of the nation who is the president, then State House must address this dangerous issue".

He says the president who holds sway with all instruments of power has the ability to tell Mr Kanja that this country cannot be democratized through use of gangs whether affiliated to the ruling class or the opposition hopefuls to state power".
Problem is, the president's loyalists led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah and Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi have been calling it bluff and accusing Mr Gachagua of stage-managing the attacks so as to raise his political ‘bonga points’.

"I saw him cry that he has been attacked yet the incident is an obvious gimmick to whip up emotions...someone seeking sympathies," said Mr Ichung'wah when Mr Gachagua was attacked in Limuru.

When Mr Gachagua was attacked in Mwiki, Mr Wamumbi took to media platforms accusing the former DP and loyalists of being the authors of the violence.

According to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) don Mr Charles Mwangi, in 2019 the then President Uhuru Kenyatta called a private meeting of close loyalists and warned them against using violence or hate speech in countering his then Deputy President, Dr Ruto.

Mr Kenyatta had decided that he would not support Dr Ruto for the 2022 Presidential elections.

"Some of us in Mr Kenyatta's wing were of the opinion that painting Dr Ruto as a security threat by invoking memories of the Post Election Violence...We had even prevailed against the then Director of Criminal Investigations Mr George Kinoti to initiate investigations about the violence's suspects," he said.

Mr Mwangi said "when President Kenyatta got wind of what we were up to, he called a meeting and gave us a serious dress down...He dismissed us as petty warmongers whose illiteracy on how to hold the country together was simply intolerable".

Mr Mwangi said that "we left the meeting looking and feeling silly about ourselves especially when President Kenyatta asked us why we wanted to burn the country of about 40 million people in pursuit of power for about 1,000 people".

Mr Mwangi says the violence surrounding Mr Gachagua politics would be neutered in the bud if Mr Kenyatta was still the president.

"Mr Kenyatta believed that any form of political violence was bad... He used to tell us that violence is an evil spirit that once entertained, runs amok and with time the aggressor cannot be distinguished from the victim... Violence cuts from both edges," he said.

Mr Mwangi urged President Ruto to be a statesman and call off the warmongers hiding under the democratisation process.

"Mr President, no one stands to gain in this violence, not you, not Gachagua not us... Call your security bigwigs and tell them all violence masters should be dealt with firmly without fear or favour, otherwise very few will believe that you do not bless that violence," he said.

As the debate rages, Wiper Democratic Party boss Mr Kalonzo Musyoka says “what we are witnessing is state-sponsored violence against dissenters”. 

"It's only that this government is afraid of repercussions. It would have since abducted and murdered those of us criticizing it...just as it is doing with our youths," Mr Musyoka said.

Mr Musyoka said "no one can plan to attack senior political leaders of the calibre of Mr Gachagua without the knowledge and complacency of the National Security instruments".

Mr Musyoka said "we want war dogs of violence surrounding this government to be called back to their pens and all those captured in video clips participating in the crime of disrupting gatherings and unleashing violence on innocent people arrested, charged in court and be convicted".

The matter is made all the more intriguing by the National Police Service refusing to update the country on who is behind this violence, action being taken and when the first court case against the suspects whose faces and identifies are in the public domain.

Even after the DCI boss Mr Mohammed Amin told AVDelta News on that November 29, 2024 that "yesterday's Limuru incident (where Mr Gachagua was attacked) is under investigation and appropriate action will be taken both against the perpetrators and inciters..." on April 7, 2025, he failed to respond to our queries on the same.

Mr Amin did not pick our calls or responded to our text messages to clarify on what happened to his promise as well as any new promises about the other four(4) attacks that Mr Gachagua has subsequently suffered.

National Police Service spokesperson Michael Muchiri did not also respond to our queries about the same.

Yet, regarding the Nyandarua attack, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) released a statement indicating that the NPS was negligent.

"The suspect who lobbed a teargas canister at the dais was reportedly a male police officer. He was subjected to mob lynch by the members of the public, before he was rescued by his fellow police officers," the IPOA statement read.

The Authority said five(5) suspects were arrested “but were later released on instructions from the County Police Commander”.

The released suspects' details were not fully recorded in the Occurrence Book, raising accountability concerns.

The suspect who claimed to be a police officer from Athi River, IPOA added, was taken to Ndaragwa Police Station, but was not booked and was later released. 

The Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and IPOA investigated the suspect's mysterious release and police handling of the case and made its conclusions.

It said that the police failed to professionally handle the arrest and processing of the suspect.

"The suspect police officer’s release without formal booking or investigations highlights negligence and possible abuse of authority by the police. On own-motion, IPOA conducted thorough investigations into police inaction, negligence, and misconduct and recommends that accountability measures be enforced for officers involved in the inappropriate handling of the incident," it slammed.

The NPS has since released a statement following the Mwiki church attack.

"Following a riotous incident that disrupted a church service where the former Deputy President was accompanied by other politicians, investigations have been launched to uncover the root cause and motive behind the disruption," it said in a statement.

However, the incident being the fifth, it remains to be seen how NPS will investigate it having so far failed to investigate the earlier four(4).