Lead DCI Investigator Claims He was Forced to Frame Gachagua in Sh7.3 Billion Graft Case

Lead DCI investigator Kuriah Obadiah has claimed that former DCI director George Kinoti forced them to fabricate charges against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in the Sh7.3 billion graft case.

In a four-page affidavit, Kuria says they were given instructions and fixed timelines to speed up investigations against Gachagua, who was then the MP for Mathira Constituency, despite a lack of satisfactory evidence.

Before the conclusion of investigations, Kuria alleges, Kinoti directed him and his team to make recommendations that would lead to the arrest and charging of Gachagua.

“Due to pressure from our boss, we were not able to cover crucial areas of the investigations that would have shed some light on the case,” reads the affidavit in part.

He argues that continuing with the case would be detrimental to the prosecution given that the investigating team overlooked some of the critical areas.

On October 17th, anti-corruption magistrate Victor Wakumile granted the prosecution’s request to defer the case to allow prosecutors to conduct an investigation before deciding whether to proceed with Gachagua’s trial.

In this case, Gachagua is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense of corruption, fraudulent acquisition of public property, money laundering, acquisition of proceeds of crime, and conflict of interest.

He is charged alongside William Wahome Mwangi, Anne Nduta Ruo, Julianne Jahenda Makaa, Samuel Murimi, Grace Wambui Kariuki, Lawrence Kimaru, Irene Wambui Ndigiriri, David Reuben, and a company M/s Rapid Medical Supplies.

The charge sheet read that on diverse dates between 2013 and 2020, Gachagua fraudulently received Sh7,330,011,265 through three bank accounts at Rafiki Micro-Finance bank while knowing that the monies were proceeds of crime.

He was charged that on December 29th, 2014 in Nairobi, jointly with others not before the court, he fraudulently acquired Sh6 million public funds for the supply of dialysis machines to Nyeri Provincial General Hospital.

Gachagua was also charged with money laundering for receiving Sh104,821,205 from Bungoma County Government between January 2018 and June 2019, with intent to unlawfully dispose of the money. He is also alleged to have received Sh7,583,505 from Kwale County Government with intent to unlawfully dispose of the money.