Gachagua Hits Out At IG Kanja Over Kiprotich Abduction Probe, Claims Police Under Political Control
He alleged that orders were issued directly to Deputy Inspector General Eliud Langat and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin.
Photo: Courtesy.
By Robert Mutasi
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched a scathing attack on Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja following Kanja’s order for investigations into the abduction of Standard Media Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich.
In a statement titled “Bwana IG” that has since gone viral on social media, Gachagua claimed that the investigation ordered by Kanja will lead nowhere, alleging that the National Police Service is no longer under the IG’s effective command.
“I have seen that you have purported to order a thorough investigation into the abduction of Alex Kiprotich, the Associate Editor of the Standard Media Group. That investigation, like all the others you have ordered, will go nowhere because it was done by police officers outside your command,” Gachagua stated.
Gachagua further alleged that he has more information on operations within the Service than the IG, claiming that the Service has been taken over by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo with the concurrence of President William Ruto. He alleged that orders were issued directly to Deputy Inspector General Eliud Langat and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin.
“You are just a flower girl leading a shell, and you will be sacrificed at the right time and blamed for the excesses in the Service,” he said in the statement directed at IG Kanja.
The former Deputy President linked the abduction of Kiprotich to an alleged upcoming expose the journalist was preparing. According to Gachagua’s claims, Kiprotich was preparing for an assignment in the Mau Forest, where he was investigating alleged loss of compensation money meant for thousands of Mau evictees from the Kipsigis community. Gachagua alleged, without providing evidence, that the funds were misappropriated by officials of the National Government Administration.
Gachagua further claimed that a late-night meeting on Monday evening sealed Kiprotich’s fate and that the DCI boss was instructed to place the journalist under 24-hour surveillance. He alleged that a team headed by a retired officer identified as Zachary Kariuki carried out the abduction, and that the team was instructed to abandon an earlier plan after the abduction drew public outrage.
In the same statement, Gachagua made further wide-ranging allegations linking the same alleged team to other high-profile incidents including the abduction of a businessman in Mlolongo and the killing of Rachel Wandeto. These claims remain unverified and have not been independently corroborated.
He challenged IG Kanja to first release findings of previous investigations he had ordered, including into the death of Rachel Wandeto and attacks on churches in Witima, Mwiki and Kariobangi, and incidents in Ol Kalou, arguing that no reports had been released because no investigations were carried out.
“IPOA is dead, and the rule of law has been suspended. I can see you crying at the International Criminal Court in The Hague next year,” Gachagua concluded.
The National Police Service has not yet responded to Gachagua’s claims. IG Kanja had earlier stated that the NPS Anti-Abduction Unit had taken up Kiprotich’s case and that the probe would be transparent.
Kiprotich was abducted on Tuesday night along the Gilgil-Nakuru highway and later found dumped near Masinga Dam on Wednesday morning.
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