Gachagua, Kalonzo condemn night Gikomba demolitions
By Emmanuel Rono, March 31, 2026Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has condemned the late-night demolition that was carried out at Gikomba Market, terming the operation inhumane, brutal, and a direct attack on small-scale traders.
Speaking during a presser on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Makueni, Gachagua accused the government of orchestrating the demolitions at night, arguing that such actions amount to persecution of ordinary Kenyans struggling to make a living.
He claimed that thousands of traders lost goods worth millions of shillings during what he described as a cowardly night raid.
“It is totally unfair for a government to treat its people like we witnessed last night at Gikomba Market, Nairobi. I condemn this inhuman and beastly treatment in the strongest terms possible,” Gachagua said.
“Thousands of Traders, and other small-scale traders, have had their properties and items worth millions of Shillings destroyed in a night of a cowardly government raid for what covertly is a political scheme.”
Political scheme
The former deputy president alleged that the demolitions were not merely an enforcement exercise but part of a broader political scheme aimed at intimidating sections of the Nairobi population.
Wiper Patriotic Front Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka also condemned the situation that led to a number of traders being displaced.
“At 4 AM, the Ruto regime bulldozed Gikomba Market under the cover of darkness. No warning. No dignity. Just rubble. Traders woke up to nothing: livelihoods, stock, and futures, gone. A government that destroys its own people does not deserve to serve them. It must go,” Kalonzo said.
Gachagua argued that they campaigned in 2022 on a promise that this government would never be an agent of destruction.
He stressed the irony of the Gikomba raid, noting that the very regime that rose to power by championing the small-scale trader is now using the cover of night to dismantle their livelihoods.
“It shall be remembered that when we campaigned for this regime in the run-up to the 2022 General Elections, we promised, and made a firm undertaking that never shall we destroy property and do forceful displacement of and eviction of people, and never do so at night,” Gachagua said.
Gachagu’s impeachment pursuit
In his speech, he accused President Ruto of being out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Kenyans, particularly small-scale traders and farmers, and instead favouring powerful business interests.
“It shall further be remembered that one of the charges of the illegal impeachment of me was my refusal and defying illegal and inhuman orders from William Ruto to carry out forceful evictions and night raids on the people of Kenya,” Gachagua said.
Arrest of Sakaja
He alleged that the arrest was a calculated move by the government to divert public attention away from the planned demolitions.
“The vicious man William Ruto has personally revealed himself and, in cohort with Nairobi City County Governor and other overzealous security strongmen tearing our nation apart, is a threat to our Nation. The arrest was meant to distract the attention of the public,” Gachagua noted.