Gachagua: Uhuru men stole Sh24 billion before Ruto swearing-in

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. [File, Standard]

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has traded his guns on the previous regime, for allegedly stealing Sh24 billion in their sunset days.

He says he will expose the individuals involved in a few days to come.

Gachagua alleges that the said public funds were stolen between the period William Ruto was announced the winner of the 2022 polls and his swearing-in.

While attending a church service at Winners Chapel in Roysambu, Gachagua reiterated that they found the country's money banks empty.

"In the next few days, I will make public the names of individuals who stole public money before leaving office in the previous regime. They stole Sh24b before they left office," Gachagua says.

"The theft was done between when IEBC announced Ruto as president-elect and when we were sworn in. They knew the case going nowhere, it was a way to allow them to steal. They brought money in bags and put it on planes then transferred it to people's homes. We found the money bank empty and started from scratch. We found a broke country because the little that was left they stole during their last days," he adds.

Without mentioning names, Gachagua also attacked former president Uhuru Kenyatta and the former prime minister.

"They led people in calling us thieves. They shouted at the top of their voices that they cannot hand over the country to thieves. They are the thieves,"

Unverified sources had intimated that President Ruto's administration was planning to go after the business empires of his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

In response, the country's second in command said the state was planning to open up space for more business people in the milk and gas sector to compete with the duo.

"We will introduce more people in the gas and milk to help us reduce the price by opening up space to many competitors. There is a monopoly in the milk business and that is why they bought all companies. They now buy from our farmers and sell it to us how he wants," he said.

The latest in a chain of policy shifts and public pronouncements targeted a ban on the importation of powdered milk that they have linked to Mr. Kenyatta's Brookside Dairy business, which controls about 40 percent of the market share for processed milk.

The six-month-old administration is also seeking to open the market for other players in the LPG industry and initiate government intervention to bring down the cost of gas cylinders which would significantly impact the dominance of East Africa Spectre Limited, associated with Mr. Odinga's family.

President Ruto last week announced plans to reduce the cost of a 6kg gas cylinder to about Sh500 by June, largely through government subsidies.

"They didn't want us to lead, they knew. They wanted to continue with state capture and monopoly," Gachagua adds.