A KENYAN court has ordered vice presidential nominee Rigathi Gachagua to repay KSh202 million ($1.7 million), which it determined were the proceeds of corruption, local media reported on Thursday.
High Court Judge Esther Maina ruled the money came from government agencies but there was no evidence that Gachagua had supplied any goods or services, the Business Daily newspaper reported.
Gachugua said the judgement was intended to undermine his candidacy in the August 9 election on presidential candidate William Ruto’s ticket.
‘The judge was biased against us from the word go and threw caution to the wind by conducting a sham trial,’ he wrote on Twitter.
Gachagua said he has instructed his lawyers to appeal, claiming Maina had refused his lawyers’ bid to challenge the evidence brought against him.
Ruto is the deputy president under current President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has denounced Ruto’s candidacy and backed veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga instead. Ruto and Odinga, the favourites on the ballot, have both pledged to stamp out corruption if elected.
Gachagua’s accounts were frozen in 2020 following a request by the government’s Asset Recovery Agency.
