NAIROBI,Kenya, Jul, 29 – United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential running mate Rigathi Gachagua was Thursday directed by the high Court to forfeit Sh200 million to the government amid a ruling stating he failed to explain how he acquired his wealth.
High Court Judge Esther Maina made the ruling.
Gachagua back in 2020 saw the court freeze his Sh200 million pending the determination of a petition by a state agency.
Documents reveled that the funds were suspected to be the proceeds of crime. The companies in question are said to be associated with the Mathira MP.
The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) further alleged that the funds were proceeds of money laundering with investigators alluding to a complex criminal scheme.
“The funds emanated from the Ministry of Lands (Kenya Informal Settlements Programme), State Department for Special Planning, Ministry of Health, Bungoma County government, Mathira Constituency Development Fund, Nyeri County government, and the National Irrigation Board,” said court documents.
Gachagua in a statement Gachagua denounced the ruling terming it as biased.
“The Judge was biased against us from the word go and threw caution to the wind by conducting a sham trial. Against the rules of evidence, she refused our application to cross-examine the Investigator in order to test the veracity of his allegations,” he said.
He is now planning on appealing the decision.
“She refused my request to call witnesses to testify on how I got my money. She has made a ruling relying solely on the allegations by the State without giving us an opportunity to put the allegations to test as per the known practice all over the world. The Judge again declined our request to highlight our submissions against the known and accepted practice all over the world,”
During the presidential running mate debate, Gachagua said that he was the victim of blackmail for president Uhuru Kenyatta after he refused to withdraw his support for William Ruto.
Gachagu’s ongoing graft probe was brought up as he was forced to explain his source of wealth and income after the Serious Crimes Unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in 2020 launched investigations against him over called embezzlement of public funds.
The DCI at the time sought to know the source of Sh12.5 billion in his account before later freezing his account.
He is said to have fraudulently secured tenders using 22 companies with him as the sole beneficiary.
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