Democracy for Citizens (DCP) Party leader Rigathi Gachagua has revealed how he managed to evade an extensive police dragnet mounted at major exits in Murang’a, where he attended a church service on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

The former deputy president, turned fierce government critic, revealed that he received intelligence from a section of police officers about his impending arrest, forcing his private security team to improvise a quick evacuation plan for his safety.

“My team and I sought alternative routes as guided by the deployed security personnel, the majority of whom are our supporters and my personal friends,” Gachagua said during a press conference in Karen on Monday, May 19, 2025.

Gachagua stated that sent to nab him was composed of 101 lethal and dreaded officers drawn from the DCI, Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), GSU and the Regular Administration Police and those deployed to the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

There was equally a heavy police contingent at Jogoo Kimakia, near Thika Blue Post Hotel, where the sleuths hoped Gachagua would be nabbed as he travelled back from Gatanga in Murang’a.

He revealed that upon receipt of the information, he equally learnt that his homes in Karen and Wamunyoro, which have become his political fortress, were also under heavy police presence.

Gachagua, whose whereabouts baffled his supporters and left police officers with an egg on their faces on Sunday evening, called a press conference in Karen to speak about the ordeal, which he now says was planned to eliminate him.

Paramilitary training

The former Moi-era administrator equally failed to turn up at his homes where police had laid siege, lending credence to his earlier assertions that he had undergone extensive paramilitary training.

“I know the government like the back of my hand because I have been in it. I understand all these security matters because I served in a security centre and I have undergone very intensive para-military training,” Gachagua said in 2024.

“In case there erupts a war, I am one person who will just be handed a gun and get to work, and you would see for yourself how I can deal with people.”

Gachagua, whose security detail was withdrawn following his impeachment, has resorted to the use of private security, whom he says the government is attempting to disarm, to expose him to attacks by sponsored goons.

“We have credible information that President Ruto has directed that my private security personnel be disarmed and be targeted for withdrawal of their licenses; this is to leave me vulnerable to allow room for goons to attack and kill me,” Gachagua said in the presser.

He maintains that his remark about post-election violence, should the IEBC overturn the will of the people, is a cautionary statement and not incitement.

Police have embarked on a probe to identify the firearm holders in Gachagua’s security personnel.