Ichung’wah denies Ksh30 million claim in Kikuyu rally row
By Aloys Michael, April 13, 2026Kikuyu Member of Parliament (MP) and National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah has refuted claims by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that he financed the disruption of a political rally in Kikuyu with Ksh30 million, instead accusing his political rival of orchestrating the unrest and attempting to deflect blame.
The accusations and counterclaims stem from chaotic scenes that unfolded during Gachagua’s rally in Kikuyu town on Saturday, April 11, 2026, where police were forced to intervene after groups of youth clashed and parts of the gathering were disrupted.
Addressing supporters at the rally, Gachagua claimed that Ichung’wah, in collaboration with President William Ruto, had deployed police and hired groups to frustrate his political engagement in the region.
However, in an interview on a local TV station on Monday, April 13, 2026, Ichung’wah dismissed the allegations as inconsistent and politically driven, pointing to what he described as contradictions in Gachagua’s public statements and actions.
“He claimed I had been given money to mobilise goons and at the same time asked for the police not to interfere. When the same police later disperse disruptive groups, they are then blamed. That contradiction raises serious questions,” Ichung’wah said.
Drawing from his recent interviews, the Majority Leader said Gachagua had initially accused him of mobilising goons while at the same time writing to the Inspector General of Police seeking the withdrawal of officers from the rally.
Mind game?
Ichung’wah has argued that the sequence of events suggested a deliberate attempt to manipulate public perception, describing it as a reverse psychology strategy aimed at assigning blame elsewhere while executing a pre-planned scheme, revealing that before the rally, he had written to the IG warning of possible unrest, indicating that intelligence pointed to attempts to stage disruptions.
“What Rigathi Gachagua was trying to do was to play reverse psychology, point fingers in another direction, while he is the one planning exactly what he is talking about,” he said.
According to him, early morning incidents on the day of the rally further reinforced these concerns, with reports of groups attempting to block sections of the Southern Bypass before being repelled, insisting that the violence witnessed later in Kikuyu town was not spontaneous but bore the hallmarks of coordination.
“The violence witnessed in our constituency was organised and deliberate. It was not random chaos,” Ichung’wah said,
The Kikuyu MP also questioned the composition of the crowd that attended the rally, claiming that a large portion of those present were not residents, suggesting that individuals had been mobilised from outside the constituency, arguing that this raised concerns about the intent and organisation behind the gathering.
“From what we saw, many of those present were not from Kikuyu. That alone should prompt questions about who mobilised them and why,” he said.
State goons?
On his part, Gachagua has maintained that the disruption of his rally was a politically motivated attempt to undermine his growing influence in the Mt. Kenya region.
He accused Ichung’wah of betraying constituents who had elected him multiple times, claiming that state resources, including security agencies, were being used to suppress dissenting voices.
“Umeshikana na William Ruto kuangaisha jamii ya Kikiyu. Ni makosa kubwa sana wewe Ichungwah, hawa watu walikuchagua mara tatu kutuma polisi na teargas kuja kuwaangaisha watu walikuchagua,” Gachagua said.
He has also accused Ruto’s administration of orchestrating violence through the use of criminal gangs, as political tensions rise ahead of planned engagements in the Kikuyu constituency.
In a statement shared earlier before the rally on Saturday, April 11, 2026, Gachagua claimed that the use of goons has become a deliberate strategy in the current political environment, pointing to what he described as a worrying trend captured even in mainstream media coverage.
“As well captured by the two leading dailies, goonism has become the operational module for William Ruto’s administration,” the statement reads.
He accused the government of relying on such groups to entrench its political control, alleging that dissenting voices and ordinary citizens are increasingly being targeted through intimidation and violence.
He warned that the situation is deteriorating, with criminal elements allegedly operating in tandem with official security agencies.
“Cornered and loathed by Kenyans for mismanaging the country and making corruption the way of life, William Ruto has sought the services of goons to keep him in power and deal with leaders and Kenyans opposed to his leadership, who had messed the country in a record three years. Goons are now part of the National Police service and work alongside the police in causing chaos and unleashing violence against innocent Kenyans,” the statement read.