Addressing journalists in Nairobi on Sunday, October 20, 2024, Gachagua alleged that undercover security agents attempted to poison his food in two separate incidents in August and September of this year.
"On August 30, undercover security agents entered my room in Kisumu, bugged it, and one of them tried to poison my food, but we were able to detect the scheme. I was supposed to be killed through food poisoning. On September 3 in Nyeri, another team from the National Intelligence Service came and tried to poison food that was meant for me and the Kikuyu Council of Elders," Gachagua said.
He claimed that it was after the two failed assassination attempts that an impeachment motion was tabled against him on October 1, 2024.
Gachagua spoke after being discharged from Karen Hospital in Nairobi, where he had been hospitalized with chest pains as the Senate debated his impeachment motion on Thursday.
He accused President William Ruto of illegally ordering the withdrawal of his security and staff despite the High Court suspending the Senate's resolutions to uphold his impeachment by the National Assembly.
Without mincing his words, Gachagua accused the Head of State of being vicious and treating him like an animal while he was still hospitalized and at risk of suffering a stroke due to stress related to the plot to remove him from office.
"I don't understand this level of viciousness toward a man who has been your deputy, a man who helped you become president. Irrespective of what he has done, at his lowest moment in life, when he is literally struggling to stay alive, you unleash such viciousness against him. I bear no grudges against anybody, but I had not seen this in President William Ruto. The man I am seeing now is not the one I thought I knew," he said, citing constant persecution over the past year and a surprisingly rushed effort to remove him from office.
Gachagua said he doesn't feel safe, and if anything happens to him, President Ruto should be held accountable.
"Do whatever you want, but please, Mr. President, I beg you, don't kill us. Don't kill my children. You have caused me enough pain over the past year. Please, leave me alone," he added.
"I want the people of Kenya to know that as I go home today, I have no security. It is good that they know that if anything happens to me or my family, President Ruto must be held accountable."
The besieged Deputy President noted that his troubles stemmed from challenging the punitive and unpopular tax measures and policies introduced by the Ruto regime.
"It's the most unfortunate thing that has ever happened in this country. That you can be so vicious to a man who helped you become president, and his only crime is telling you the truth: don't evict people without compensation; Mr. President, don't overtax peopleâ€"you are killing them, you are killing their businesses. Don't force the housing program on people; if people don't want these houses, don't force them. My only problem with the president is being truthful, because nobody else can tell him," he added.
He expressed confidence in the courts delivering justice for what he termed an unfair removal from office.
"The 11 counts are malicious and fictitious. It was a political game by the President to get rid of me," Gachagua lamented.
Gachagua was impeached after Senators upheld five of the 11 charges brought against him.
Fifty-four senators voted to impeach Gachagua on the first count of gross violation of the Constitution, while 13 voted against his removal. The charges under this ground included accusations of dividing Kenyans along ethnic lines. The National Assembly cited several instances where Gachagua compared the government to a company, suggesting that certain regions held more "shares" than others.
In addition to engaging in divisive politics, Gachagua faced other accusations, including economic crimes, money laundering, insubordination, undermining the government and devolution, as well as bullying and intimidating state officers. However, the charges of economic crimes, money laundering, and bullying failed to gain sufficient support.
The Senate proceeded with the impeachment trial despite Gachagua's lawyers arguing that the Deputy President could not appear in the House as he had been hospitalized.
Thereafter, President Ruto nominated Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to replace Gachagua as Deputy President. However, Kindiki's nomination and approval by the National Assembly faced a setback after the High Court granted conservatory orders barring the minister from being sworn in, pending the mention of the matter on October 24, 2024.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
