Kenya’s sacked vice president says he was the victim of two assassination attempts in recent months

Gachagua emphasizes that the motion of censure against him was planned to remove him from office after the failure of these plans

Oct. 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The dismissed vice president of Kenya, Rigathi Gachagua, has claimed that he has been the victim of two assassination attempts in recent months, while stressing that the no-confidence motion against him was planned to remove him from office after they failed.

Gachagua was dismissed on October 17 by Parliament after failing to testify in a political trial against him for being in the hospital for chest pains, although the measure was suspended a few hours later by the Supreme Court of Kenya, which is studying the appeal presented by the politician.

Thus, Gachagua stressed after leaving the Karen Hospital that he was the victim of an assassination attempt at the end of October, when “undercover agents” entered his room to “put microphones” and “poison his food.”

“They were detected and I was able to escape the plan. I was supposed to die from food poisoning,” he said, before insisting that days later there was another poisoning attempt by the Kenyan Intelligence services, as reported by the ‘The Star’ newspaper.

“I reported this matter to the National Intelligence Service and requested the withdrawal of the officers assigned to my office because I did not feel safe,” he detailed, before highlighting that “after the failure of the two assassination attempts, the motion was prepared of censorship”, without the Government having commented on the accusations.

Gachagua has become the first vice president to be removed from office in the history of the African country. MP Mewngi Mutuse accused him of money laundering and using his position to hand out government licenses to his companies. In addition, senators have voted to maintain five of the charges, including inciting ethnic divisions and violating their oath.

The former vice president has challenged the entire process that led to his dismissal, arguing that the charges against him are unfounded and that the evidence presented to Parliament is insufficient. In this way, he spoke of “unfounded and false accusations” against him.

If the dismissal finally succeeds once the procedures in the Supreme Court are over, Gachagua, 59, would have to abandon a position he has held since 2022 and contemplate the end of his political life, since he would be disqualified from holding public office in the future.