Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua holds stakes in companies that over the years have raked in millions, primarily from lucrative contracts to supply various county governments among other government agencies.
The passing of his brother, former Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua, also saw Rigathi bequeathed additional assets.
Gachagua has faced allegations of graft, which he has stridently denied. A Ksh7.3 billion graft case against him and companies he is associated with was withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in November last year, two months after Gachagua and William Ruto were sworn in as Deputy President and President respectively.
Gachagua claimed that the charges were part of a political witch-hunt orchestrated by the previous administration led by Former President Uhuru Kenyatta. The cases centred around tenders secured by his companies to supply the Bungoma and Nyeri County governments. They were withdrawn with investigators telling the court that they were ‘under pressure’.
Gachagua’s companies operate in a wide range of sectors including medical supplies, construction and real estate.
Among companies in which Gachagua holds a stake in are medical supplies firm Encater Diagnostics Ltd – which received Ksh123,175,000 after securing tenders to supply various county governments. Another of his firms is construction firm Technical Supplies and Services (K) – which received Ksh220, 877, 180.85 from the national government. Rapid Medical Supplies, associated with Gachagua, received over Ksh9 million.
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Skytop Agencies, another of the DP’s companies, received Ksh20.6 million from the national government and Ksh2.05 million from county governments.
Other companies associated with Gachagua include Wamunyoro Investments Limited, Riang International Group Limited, Machine Centre Ltd and Jenne Enterprises.
In his will, former Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua left five percent of his estate -worth more than Ksh2 billion, to his brother Rigathi, with the rest divided among several other family members.
Nderitu had sought to have his entire estate, except three houses, sold and the income shared among his family as per his will. The properties included Olive Garden Hotel in Nairobi, Vipingo Beach Resort in Kilifi, Queens Gate serviced apartments in Nairobi and Mweiga Homes in Nyeri.
The DP has previously stated that he started out in business during his days as a student at the University of Nairobi (UoN), organizing parties for students.
“I’m a prudent businessman; I started doing business 40 years ago. At the university we used to get KSh 2600 as boom, I would organise discos and pick half of the money from these guys; I had a car, I had a factory for sweets,” he stated in a past interview with Citizen.
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