{"id":146076,"date":"2026-07-08T12:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/murkomen-accuses-gachagua-of-orchestrating-fear-campaign-to-extort-mt-kenya-businesses-ahead-of-ol-kalou-by-election\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:02:56","slug":"murkomen-accuses-gachagua-of-orchestrating-fear-campaign-to-extort-mt-kenya-businesses-ahead-of-ol-kalou-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/murkomen-accuses-gachagua-of-orchestrating-fear-campaign-to-extort-mt-kenya-businesses-ahead-of-ol-kalou-by-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Murkomen Accuses Gachagua of Orchestrating Fear Campaign to Extort Mt Kenya Businesses Ahead of Ol Kalou By-Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 8\u2013 Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has accused former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of orchestrating a campaign of fear and intimidation in the Mt. Kenya region to extort businesspeople, marking a sharp escalation in the political war over the upcoming Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement on Wednesday, Murkomen alleged that Gachagua was deliberately creating a sense of insecurity in the region and claimed businesses that resisted his demands were being targeted by criminal gangs.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to Gachagua today has confirmed our worst fears that he is on a mission to create an atmosphere of fear and siege in the Mt. Kenya region with the sole aim of extorting money from leading businesspeople,\u201d Murkomen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe businesses of those who refuse to yield to his intimidation and blackmail are targeted for looting and destruction by his gangs and goons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Interior CS further described Gachagua as \u201cthe biggest threat to national unity and the economy of our country,\u201d adding that security agencies were closely monitoring his public remarks and activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis utterances and criminal activities are closely being monitored by our security agencies and we shall do everything to ensure that the people and their properties are protected,\u201d Murkomen said.<\/p>\n

The accusations came a day after Gachagua alleged that residents of Ol Kalou Constituency were being asked to surrender their national identity cards in exchange for free liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and government-branded mattresses ahead of the July 16 parliamentary by-election.<\/p>\n

The former deputy president claimed the alleged exercise was intended to disenfranchise voters by preventing them from participating in the poll.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a scheme to deny you the opportunity and right to vote on the by-elections of July 16, 2026. Please don\u2019t surrender your identity card to anyone,\u201d Gachagua said while urging residents to accept government assistance but retain their identification documents.<\/p>\n

He also accused the government and the ruling party of using state resources to influence voters in what has become one of the country\u2019s most closely watched by-elections.<\/p>\n

The government has dismissed the allegations.
Former Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria defended the LPG distribution programme, saying it was part of the government\u2019s development agenda rather than a political campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Ol Kalou are going home smiling because what they asked for is finally being delivered,\u201d Kuria said, arguing that the subsidised LPG programme would improve livelihoods by reducing dependence on firewood.<\/p>\n

The exchange reflects the increasingly bitter contest between the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Gachagua\u2019s Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) ahead of the July 16 vote, which is widely seen as a key test of political influence in the Mt. Kenya region following Gachagua\u2019s fallout with President William Ruto.<\/p>\n

The Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election has attracted nine candidates, although political analysts expect the race to be dominated by DCP candidate Sammy Kamau Ngotho and UDA\u2019s Samuel Muchina Nyaga.<\/p>\n

Neither Murkomen\u2019s allegations against Gachagua nor Gachagua\u2019s claims regarding the alleged confiscation of identity cards have been independently verified.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 8\u2013 Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has accused former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of orchestrating a campaign of fear and intimidation in the Mt. Kenya region to extort businesspeople, marking a sharp escalation in the political war over the upcoming Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election. In a statement on Wednesday, Murkomen alleged that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}