Gachagua: Why I won’t honour NCIC summons

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now says he will not honour a summons to appear before the National Cohesion and Integration Commission on August 27, as he had been ordered to.

In summoning him, the NCIC on August 18 ordered the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) boss to appear before the commission on August 27 at 2pm, failing to which he would be forcibly sought by security agencies and delivered to honour the summons.

The commission said it was acting under Sections 27, 29 and 63C as read with 63E of the National Cohesion and Integration Act, which gives it the mandate to investigate conduct that undermines peaceful coexistence among communities.

The NCIC issued a penal notice in the summons, warning that failure to appear "will lead to warrants of arrest being issued for your arrest and production before the Commission and/or the institution of criminal and/or contempt proceedings against you”.

According to the summons, NCIC is focusing on speeches that Mr Gachagua had allegedly made at various political stops dating back to July 2026, including allegedly warning that he would cause snakes to be killed alongside their eggs in 2027.

He is said to have uttered the suspect statements in Vihiga, Kisii and Meru counties. Attached to the summons are transcripts of the remarks, to which he is wanted to provide an explanation on the intent, context and impact of the suspected statements.

'Conflicting schedules'

Now, Mr Gachagua's lawyers have written to the NCIC saying the date he was required to show up for interrogation coincides with an already planned foreign trip.

In a letter to NCIC Chief Executive Dr Daniel Giti, who had signed the summons letter, dated August 20, Gachagua, through Kiragu Wathuta & Company Advocates, says he will be out of the country between August 26 and October 20 on a pre-planned and widely publicised trip that was arranged before the summons were issued.

At the same time, Mr Gachagua complained that the summons did not contain full disclosure of the evidence intended to be used against him.

He is brought to the notice of remarks he made in the Luanda area of Vihiga County on June 12, 2026, where, while addressing audiences, he was quoted telling some communities that their in-laws are in Sudan.

At Gusii Stadium in Kisii County on February 23, Gachagua is said to have addressed a crowd and is reported to have singled out Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda, whom he attacked using suspected discriminatory terms.

He is quoted by the NCIC as having dismissed Mr Jhanda as an Indian who should go back to his country of origin.

The bulk of the NCIC investigation against Mr Gachagua relates to his tour of Meru County between July 25 and 28, 2026, where he is said to have repeatedly used the phrase "killing the snake and its eggs".

He is said to have warned President William Ruto never to set foot in Meru County owing to the perceived targeting of senior people from the area in government.

His lawyers now say NCIC has only relied on excerpts and not complete statements and that without the full context, no proper investigation can be mounted.

They are asking the commission to avail authentic copies of the original audio-visual footage of the rallies cited, together with duly certified transcriptions, to allow their client to prepare.

The letter further takes issue with what it terms imprecision on when and where the utterances were made, arguing that for the Meru leg, the commission only refers to diverse dates during a public event without giving the exact location within the county or the time, making it difficult for Gachagua to tell whether he was even in Meru.

Language has also become a point of contention. One of the statements under probe, partly in Sheng and Gikuyu, reads "Na macuzo Sisi si ni macousin? si Sisi ni familia moja? Huyu kasongo alikuwa anapiga kelele ati Riggy G amesema macuzo wake pamoja, wewe kasongo wachana na familia yetu, enda utafute macousin yako huko Sudan."

The defence says the remark is neither in English nor Kiswahili, the official languages, and any probe would require a certified official translation by a language expert.

The lawyers also want to be furnished with the commission's rules of procedure governing such investigations, including whether their client is entitled to be accompanied by counsel, to produce evidence, call witnesses and be supplied with the complaints and supporting material.

Even as they seek disclosure, the lawyers argue that, on their literal, contextual and figurative meaning, the statements cited do not amount to threatening, abusive or insulting expression coupled with an intention to stir ethnic hatred and do not incite contempt, hostility or discrimination based on ethnicity or race to fall under Sections 13 and 62 of the NCIC Act. They term the investigation unnecessary.

The letter notes that while Gachagua holds the commission in high regard and is ready to assist in any lawful inquiry on the basis of full information, political divergence should not be characterised as an affront to national cohesion.

"Divergence of political views is not an affront to national cohesion and integration. On the contrary, it promotes the two," the lawyers say.

The NCIC had not responded to the requests by press time.

The summons have since elicited an outcry among Mr Gachagua's loyalists, with Nyandarua Senator John Methu terming them as “discriminatory and an attempt to help the executive crackdown on dissent while helping the government manage politics”.

So far, Naivasha MP Ms Jayne Kihara and Mukurwe-ini MP John Kaguchia have been charged in court over suspected hate speech—both being loyalists of Mr Gachagua.

In the Ol Kalou by-election, Gachagua loyalist Ms Wanjiku Muhia (Kipipiri MP) and Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria, who is a government loyalist, were fined by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Sh1.5 million and Sh2.5 million, respectively, for contravening the electoral code of conduct.

Mr Methu said President Ruto has presided over public meetings where his loyalists have prominently propagated the cause of isolating Mt Kenya leaders and voters by making them the common enemy.

“Yet, the NCIC won’t see or hear that…We do not have laws that rule the government and others that apply for the opposition. The law must apply in uniformity of intent. We do not want to reach a point where we are called upon to treat NCIC as another political party in the competition,” he said.

Kirinyaga Woman Representative Ms Njeri Maina said the NCIC should exercise independence and be seen to apply its mandate in a manner that does not seek to incite political loyalties to rise up in arms.

“In Emurua Dikirr, we have seen and heard area MP David Kipsang’ issue direct threats to security by warning Mr Gachagua never to set foot there. Others, who include serving police officers, while addressing open-air public meetings, have warned that Gachagua's visit to the area will be met with violence,” she said.

She added that “government Cabinet Secretaries like Geoffrey Ruku (Public Service) and Adan Duale (Health) have been notorious for issuing inflammatory statements, but after government loyalists have been heard ordering NCIC to summon opposition leaders, it rushes to make them happy”.

Ms Maina said the NCIC and other law enforcement agencies should prove their independence by applying the rule of law both in the Broad-Based Government and the opposition.

“We cannot have people in government partnership enjoying impunity of lawlessness and public institutions being used as weapons to help government survive dissent. That is a situation that will not be taken kindly,” she said.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.