Impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua failed to turn up at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Tuesday, where he had been invited to record a statement regarding alleged attempts on his life.
Rather, Mr Gachagua was in court for most of the day, closely following the proceedings of a case pitting him against the State before a three-judge bench of the High Court, where he is actively fighting his impeachment as the country's second-in-command.
Meanwhile, at the DCI's headquarters along Kiambu Road, several police officers and two water cannons were deployed near the main gate to deal with any disturbances that might have resulted from Mr Gachagua's expected visit.
Security heightened at DCI headquarters ahead of Rigathi Gachagua's arrival
However, by last night, the impeached country's second-in-command had not gone to the DCI's offices, with a senior official at the headquarters telling the Nation that they had prepared to receive Mr Gachagua but he had not turned up.
“The allegations he made were very serious and we want to get to the bottom of the matter. However, he did not show up and this will stall our investigations. Nevertheless, it was not a summon, so it is within his right to decide to come or not,” he said.
This came a day after the DCI wrote to the indicted DP in a letter dated October 21, following statements he made on Mashujaa Day October 20 shortly after being discharged from Karen Hospital.
Mr Gachagua said there had been two attempts to assassinate him through food poisoning in late August and early September by people he believed to be National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers.
“On August 30, in Kisumu, undercover security agents entered my room, bugged it and one of them tried to poison my food. We detected it and were able to escape the scheme. I was supposed to be killed by food poisoning.
"On September 3, another NIS team came to Nyeri and tried to poison food meant for me and the Kikuyu Council of Elders," Gachagua had said.
His pronouncements prompted the country's Directorate of Investigations to invite the indicted DP to record a statement as "these are serious allegations coming from a person of your stature and cannot be taken lightly".
“In light of the seriousness of this matter, we kindly request your presence on October 22, 2024 at the DCI headquarters, Mazingira Complex-Kiambu Road, to formally record your statement to enable prompt thorough investigations into the matter,” the DCI wrote.
The DCI then assured Mr Gachagua that the matter would be treated with the seriousness it deserved, adding that his statement was an important part of the investigation.
