Rigathi Gachagua, the running partner of Deputy President William Ruto, has protested the High Court’s decision to require him to return Ksh202 million to the government.
After being found guilty of corruption, the court ordered him to pay back what he had stolen from the government.
Gachagua claimed in a statement that Kenya Kwanza’s attempt to win the next election on August 9 had been openly thwarted by the verdict.
He asserted, without providing any supporting data, that the decision was hastily made after he defeated Martha Karua, Raila Odinga’s running mate, in last week’s deputy president discussion.
The Mathira MP claimed, “The ruling was hurriedly issued ten days before the polls in a fruitless attempt to discredit my candidacy in the upcoming elections and undercut my outstanding performance in the running mates discussion last week.”
On the grounds that he hadn’t been given a fair hearing, he committed to contest the decision at the Court of Appeal.
Gachagua criticized Judge Esther Maina for reportedly refusing to question the investigators in cross-examination in order to verify the veracity of the claims.
According to Justice Maina’s decision, the legislator received the money from government organizations without exchanging any products or services.
The judge found that because the Assets Recovery Authority (ARA) had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Gachagua had received the monies, “the court concludes that the funds are subject to forfeiture.”
