Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua arrested by Nyeri DCI

MP Gachagua was arrested on Friday morning by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers while at his Nyeri home.

Reports indicate that the officers picked the legislator at dawn and he was driven to the DCI headquarters in Nairobi, along Kiambu Road.

The Tanga Tanga MP is said to have been arrested on charges of corruption amounting to Sh12 billion.

Other MPs allied to Deputy President William Ruto claimed that the arrest is intimidation from the authorities against those whose political stance is against that of the ruling administration.

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua (Twitter) Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua (Twitter) Pulse Live Kenya

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, in a post on social media, revived debates of the once famous series of arrests of prominent personalities which used to occur on Fridays.

"Hon. Rigathi Gachagua arrested in Nyeri by DCI sleuths as wider strategy of intimidation and blackmail of Dr William Samoei Arap Ruto allies. We shall overcome again! The dawn is almost near. Kamatakamata Fridays has began," the Senator stated.

Later in the day Nyeri residents mounted protests, barricading roads to prevent traffic from entering or leaving the town.

Police were called in to disperse the growing crowds of rowdy youth and clear the road blocks erected by the group.

Sh5.8 billion Corruption funds

In June 2020, the MP was also arrested and questioned in a Sh5.8 billion corruption investigation.

The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) had been investigating the source of funds in the MPs accounts believed to have been fraudulently received from various ministries and state companies.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect’s bank accounts were used as a conduit for money laundering in efforts to conceal, disguise the nature, source, disposition and movement of illicit funds and should be preserved," a statement from ARA outlined.

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua Pulse Live Kenya

Initial investigations showed that a about Sh12.5 billion was paid into three of Gachagua's bank accounts at Rafiki Micro Finance Bank.

The ARA team did a forensic audit of the bank accounts but were only able to trace Sh7.5 billion.

Sh7.3 billion had been moved through withdrawals while another Sh200 million was sitting in the bank following a court order allowing the ARA to freeze the bank account.

Sh5.8 billion would later disappear from the legislator's accounts further raising suspicion.

The MP was in June 2020 held at the DCI headquarters where he was questioned over the graft charges against him.

After his release, the MP claimed that DCI did not have substantial charges against him.