Former Deputy President and DCP party leader Rigathi Gachagua has hit back at Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen over his warning that goons had been mobilised to target businesses linked to politicians supporting the government during the June 25 anniversary protests.
In a statement, Gachagua questioned why Murkomen had publicly revealed the alleged intelligence instead of taking action to prevent the attacks from occurring.
He argued that if the government had prior knowledge of the alleged plans, security agencies should have acted to stop those involved rather than issuing public warnings.
Gachagua accuses government of sponsoring goons. Photo: Courtesy.
Gachagua also dismissed Murkomen’s claims that opposition politicians were behind the mobilisation of the alleged goons, arguing that such assertions should be backed by arrests if credible intelligence existed.
He instead accused the government of sponsoring criminal gangs to infiltrate demonstrations, attack businesses and members of the public, and later blame the opposition for the violence.
According to Gachagua, the government has the capacity to stop any planned attacks but would allegedly fail to act because, in his view, those responsible are operating with state backing.
The DCP party leader further claimed that police officers had been instructed to allow the alleged goons to cause destruction before moving in to arrest opposition leaders and shift public blame onto them.
He also alleged that any attacks targeting leaders allied to the government would be orchestrated to portray the opposition as responsible and generate public sympathy for government-backed politicians.
Gachagua’s remarks came in response to Murkomen’s statement on Wednesday, June 24, in which the Interior Cabinet Secretary warned that security agencies had received intelligence indicating that criminal groups were planning attacks in counties neighbouring Nairobi.
Murkomen said the alleged targets included businesses owned by politicians and businesspeople perceived to support the government, claiming the attacks were intended to punish individuals who had declined to finance certain politicians or support their political agenda.
The Interior CS added that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had already launched operations to identify and apprehend those allegedly involved in organising and financing the planned attacks.
