Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua engages with Kenyans in Seattle, Washington State, US, on 11 July, 2025. Photo/Rigathi Gachagua/X
By Newsflash Writer
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has alleged that President William Ruto’s government has deployed over 40 National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents to monitor and potentially harm him during his ongoing visit to the United States.
In a no holds-barred interview with Pacific TV in Boston on Friday, July 18, Gachagua claimed that the spies were dispatched with the intent of targeting him while abroad, in what he described as a ploy to eliminate him without implicating the Kenyan government.
“They [NIS] have been trying to harm me while in Kenya. Their thinking is that if they would harm me in a foreign country, President Ruto and his government would be free from any blame. So, we are careful. They are everywhere,” said Gachagua.
“We saw them in Seattle”
Gachagua insisted that he and his team had identified the agents as they had encountered them multiple times across the US, including in Seattle.
“We saw them, because we know them. We saw them in Seattle dining together with us. They were sent—more than 40 people. They are everywhere I am visiting, trying to think they can get in where we are touring,” he said.
The former DP further claimed that his pursuers have resorted to covert methods such as poisoning in attempts to take his life.
“Mostly they target to use food to harm someone… a way they can put poison which can kill you gradually. I have been having a lot of challenges since I left office,” Gachagua said.
Also read: Police surround Gachagua’s residences
According to him, the plans to poison him date back to his time in office and continued after his ouster.
“They had tried to poison me in Kisumu, but they were unsuccessful. They attempted in Nyeri and were again unsuccessful. Now, I am being told they were told to trail me here to see if they can try to harm me while here,” he alleged.
“If something happens to me while I am here in America, it cannot cause a lot of uproar as it would happen while at home [Kenya],” he added.
Claims of infiltration
Gachagua said he was exercising extreme caution during his interactions with members of the Kenyan diaspora, accusing the State of infiltrating public gatherings to monitor his activities.
“So, even when I am meeting our people, we are also careful because among them, there is a lot of infiltration,” he said.
“For example, where we were with Martha Karua [Seattle, Washington], we saw like three of them [NIS spies]. But our people were following them too… we are careful, but we can’t be intimidated because we are not cowards… but we are careful,” added Gachagua.
He directly linked the surveillance operation to President Ruto’s administration and NIS Director-General Noordin Haji.
“I want to tell those Noordin Haji people that they will not take us anywhere,” Gachagua said defiantly.
“Ruto sees us as a nuisance”
The former DP, who has become increasingly critical of President Ruto since his fallout with the State, maintained that the surveillance and alleged threats on his life are politically motivated.
“They have been thinking of how to harm me so that they can eliminate me, because Ruto is saying that we have been a nuisance to him,” he said.
Gachagua also recounted a separate incident in Europe, where he reportedly encountered one of the alleged spies.
“I saw one in Frankfurt [Germany], in a lodge where we were eating. He was trying to get in, but he was denied entry, because we could recognize him. They were eating and following us up and down.”
Also read:Gachagua: How Ruto ‘bankrolled’ Mt Kenya chaos
He expressed concern over the use of public funds to allegedly finance what he termed as politically driven surveillance.
“The money being used to bring those people to America should be used to pay school fees, because sponsoring 40 people to travel to America is very expensive,” he noted.
Gachagua maintained that the government’s intention is clear: to eliminate him outside the country in order to avoid a national backlash.
“Their plan was that if they would succeed in accomplishing their mission in a foreign country, that would be good,” he claimed. “But even if they were to harm us, everyone knows it’s them who would be responsible.”
“Kenyans have decided”
Despite the threats, Gachagua stated that he remains undeterred in his political mission. He called on the alleged spies to return home, asserting that Kenyans have already made up their minds about the future of Ruto’s leadership.
He told them to go back to Nairobi, because even if they were to harm him, Kenyans have decided that President Ruto will rule for just one term.
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