Thursday, August 4, 2022 – The suitability of Deputy President William Ruto’s running mate, Rigathi Gachagua, now hangs by the thread.
This is after a host of activists filed a petition to remove him from the ballot completely because of corruption.
Twelve activists want Rigathi, and a handful of other aspirants, to be barred from partaking in the General Election next week over the question of integrity.
Through their lawyer Kibe Mungai, the petitioners doubted Gachagua’s suitability to be a potential second in command, citing a “heavy baggage of criminality resting on his shoulders”.
This was preceded by a court ruling which convicted Gachagua of corruption and ordered him to surrender the KSh202 million believed to be proceeds of corruption to the State.
Through their petition filed as urgent, they want the High Court sitting in Nairobi to decide over Gachagua’s appropriateness to be on the presidential ballot having in mind his graft battle in the corridors of justice.
“Subsequent to the registration and gazettement of the 2nd Respondent as the UDA presidential running mate by the IEBC on Thursday, July 28, 2022, the High Court delivered its verdict in which the court ordered that he shouldn’t forfeit KSh202 million held in his accounts as the same was proceeds of corruption and Rigathi had failed to explain how he acquired the wealth from government agencies,” reads an excerpt of the petition addressed to the High Court.
They also faulted the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for not revoking the gazettement of Rigathi as Ruto’s running mate despite the ruling on July 28.
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