People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has fiercely defended former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, warning the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) against what she called a thinly veiled attempt to scapegoat him over the ongoing anti-government protests.
Karua’s remarks come in response to the DCI’s latest press briefing, in which it signalled that Gachagua could face arrest if found culpable of any criminal activity related to the unrest.
Karua, in a post on her X account on Monday, June 30, 2025, warned that Kenyans will not sit back and watch as investigative agencies try to pin the blame for the national protests on political figures such as Gachagua while ignoring the real sources of violence.
“Kenyans will not allow you to make Gachagua your fall guy,” she declared in her strongly worded statement.
In her sharp critique of the DCI, Karua also accused the agency of pursuing innocent, peaceful demonstrators while deliberately shielding what she described as “state-sponsored goons” who were responsible for the violence and destruction witnessed during the protests.
Karua says the DCI is fully aware that many of those arrested were merely exercising their constitutional rights, yet continues to harass and detain them while making no effort to apprehend individuals whose faces were captured by the media while engaging in acts of lawlessness.
“The DCI is busy arresting innocent people who peacefully exercised their rights, while avoiding the state-hired goons whose faces and actions are all over the media,” she stated.
Karua’s statement has added to mounting pressure on the DCI, which on the afternoon of Monday, June 30, 2025, clarified that Gachagua had not been summoned but left the door open for possible legal action, should investigations link him to any criminal involvement.
In that same briefing, DCI boss Mohammed Amin stated that Gachagua does not enjoy any immunity from prosecution.
He emphasised that Gachagua is not above the law and is subject to the laws of the land like any other Kenyan.
“It is not true that we have summoned Rigathi Gachagua, but I would like to point out very clearly that Rigathi Gachagua does not enjoy any immunity against prosecution. If in our investigations he is found to have been involved in any criminal activity, then appropriate action will be taken,” Amin said.
