{"id":45470,"date":"2026-01-26T03:55:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T03:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/kenyas-ex-deputy-president-rigathi-gachagua-alleges-assassination-attempt-in-church-attack\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T03:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T03:55:24","slug":"kenyas-ex-deputy-president-rigathi-gachagua-alleges-assassination-attempt-in-church-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/kenyas-ex-deputy-president-rigathi-gachagua-alleges-assassination-attempt-in-church-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya’s ex-deputy president Rigathi Gachagua alleges assassination attempt in church attack"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Alfred Lasteck,<\/span>BBC Africa<\/span>and<\/span><\/p>\n

Lucy Fleming<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"AFP\/GettyAFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rigathi Gachagu is a wealthy businessman popular in his home region of Mount Kenya<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Prominent Kenyan opposition figure Rigathi Gachagua has alleged there was an attempt on his life during a Sunday church service.<\/p>\n

Gachagua, who was sacked as deputy president in an impeachment trial in 2024, claimed a gang of rogue police officers had attacked the church in Othaya in the central county of Nyeri, using bullets and tear gas.<\/p>\n

Without providing evidence, he accused his former ally President William Ruto of ordering the attack. Ruto has not commented but Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen condemned the violence, calling it unacceptable.<\/p>\n

The police said an investigation had been launched, adding that no injuries had been reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reports to the police indicated that a tear-gas canister had been thrown inside St Peters Anglican Church at 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT) disrupting the service.<\/p>\n

Several vehicles were reportedly damaged within the church compound, the police added, appealing for witnesses.<\/p>\n

Gachagua, a wealthy businessman from the central Mount Kenya area and now a vocal critic of the president, said he was escorted to safety by his security team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He had posted photos of the incident on X<\/a> and later held a news conference where he dismissed suggestions from pro-government bloggers that the attack had been stage-managed.<\/p>\n

“Where can we get access to tear gas?… Where do we get access to AK-47 assault rifles?” the Democracy for the Citizens Party leader asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"@rigathi@rigathi<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rigathi Gachagua posted photos on X showing the chaos at the church compound<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Murkomen said the police chief had promised him that the attackers would be brought to justice.<\/p>\n

“Violence anywhere, and least of all in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” the interior minister said in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The police must move without fear or favour and deal decisively with the sponsors and perpetrators of this act without regard to their status in society or political affiliation.”<\/p>\n

According to Kenya’s constitution, Gachagua’s conviction by the senate means he cannot hold public office again. <\/p>\n

He had pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of which he was found guilty of five, including inciting ethnic divisions and violating his oath of office.<\/p>\n

However the politician, popularly known as Riggy G, maintains he will be on the presidential ballot next year<\/a> as he is appealing and the Supreme Court has not ruled on his impeachment.<\/p>\n

Ruto and Gachagua were elected on a joint ticket in 2022 – and the partnership helped Ruto win by marshalling support in Mount Kenya, the heartland of the Kikuyu people who are the largest voting bloc in Kenya.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You may also be interested in:<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\"GettyGetty Images\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alfred Lasteck,BBC Africaand Lucy Fleming AFP\/Getty Images Rigathi Gachagu is a wealthy businessman popular in his home region of Mount Kenya Prominent Kenyan opposition figure Rigathi Gachagua has alleged there was an attempt on his life during a Sunday church service. Gachagua, who was sacked as deputy president in an impeachment trial in 2024, claimed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45472,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45470\/revisions\/45472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}