A showdown almost ensued in Naivasha after a contingent of police officers attempted to block former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua from addressing the public in Naivasha town on Saturday evening, March 29.

Officers armed with clubs and teargas canisters were spotted striving to push back the crowds that were gathering to listen to the former deputy president.

On a sunroof, after getting the chance to speak in Mai Mahiu, Gachagua blasted President Ruto's administration for dispatching police officers and goons to disrupt his meetings in a targeted move to destabilise his meet-the-people tour.

"I am informed he has sent all formations of police officers here in Naivasha to attempt to block us from greeting the people. We are going to proceed to engage the people regardless of the intimidations, Gachagua said.

Later on, in a series of social media posts, Gachagua accused his former boss of trying hard to reduce the country to a police state with the intent of intimidating dissenters.

The former deputy president insisted that Kenya is governed under the rule of law and the constitution and that the state law enforcers won't be weaponised.

"Democracy cannot be replaced by dictatorship at all in Kenya; anyone dreaming of intimidating the cause to redeem our nation using state machinery must re-think who Kenyans are and what they have done to bad leadership since independence. Mai Mahiu people and great patriots, thank you for coming out despite the heavy deployment of security personnel to thwart your freedom of association. We march on!" he postd on X.

He insisted on creating a political party that would send Ruto home come 2027.

The former Mathira lawmaker revealed that the party would be unveiled in May and would field candidates in all the elective posts.

Gachagua has had his three meetings in the past disrupted by what he alleged was government intimidation.

He was whisked to safety during a burial event in Limuru, Kiambu county, in November 2024 when goons descended on them and caused mayhem, destroying properties of unknown value.

Another incident involved an interdenominational prayer meeting in Nyandarua in December 2024, where a teargas canister was lobbed some metres from the podium where Nyandarua senator John Methu was addressing the crowd.

Gachagua said that the president has been overreacting to issues instead of taking time to listen to Kenyans and act on their concerns.

Speaking after the incident, Nyandarua Senator John Methu said they would not be cowed into submitting to blackmail by the government.

Elsewhere, in November 2024, Gachagua claimed detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) trailed him while attending a church service in Nairobi.

He claimed that the resident cleric of the PriestHood Fellowship Church in Kahawa West, where he was to worship, was raided by the DCI detectives who grilled him.

The DCI however refuted the claims, saying none of its officers was assigned on the mission to trail the former deputy president.

Source: TUKO.co.ke