'Go back to Kiambu road, keep off Gov't offices,' DP Gachagua now tells DCI

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Thursday continued his vicious onslaught on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) when he attended the first day of an orientation workshop in Mombasa County meant to induct newly-elected governors into President William Ruto's regime.

Speaking at the three-day event which will end on Saturday, DP Gachagua intimated that DCI officers have, in recent years, been abusing their positions and harassing persons holding elected seats, specifically governors, which he claims impedes the officials from carrying out their constitutional mandate.

"I want to assure you we are aware of the harassment and intimidation governors have been put through by state agencies," he said.  

"The level of extortion by detectives pretending to be fighting graft whereas they were just extorting money from governors and officials is a thing of the past."

According to Gachagua, DCI does not have the powers to meddle in the affairs of state agencies, unless it is a matter of great public importance, as such the sleuths agency should refrain from laying sieges at county government offices when looking to reel in any alleged crooked officials.

"We have told DCI to go back to Kiambu Road and wait for crimes to be reported there. They have no business in government offices hovering all over and creating a toxic environment for Service delivery," he said.

"We cannot have detectives in government offices because they poison the atmosphere for civil servants to deliver."

The DP correspondingly slammed the DCI for allegedly sending junior-ranked police officers to arrest high-ranking elected leaders, noting that this undermines the leaders' powers and authority in the eyes of their subordinates.

"Let the head of that particular organisation write a letter to the governor himself and not delegate some junior officers to address a sitting governor because that is not right and those are the things we are going to do to restore the dignity of our leaders," he said,

"This will to enable them to perform because when you embarrass an elected leader in front of his juniors and you go away, how do you expect him to perform the following day?"