The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mr. George Kinoti will in the coming days be hard-pressed to justify the wild claims he makes in the media about what his team is investigating at any given time. The manner in which the DCI executes larger than life narratives around his cases in the media only to turn up in court with underwhelming charges and sketchy evidence is increasingly becoming a matter of national concern.
Only the other day the DCI stormed the sacrosanct chambers of Judges without any search warrants or consultations with Inspector General of Police, Chief Justice or Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and searched both the chambers and persons of the judges only to turn up nothing except the claim that he was following a tip. Now, it turns out DCI Kinoti may have been weaving mere fairy tale against Mathira MP Hon Rigathi Gachagua for the last 2 years. How are Kenyans expected to have trust in the criminal process after this?
To be exact, three weeks ago, on July 1, 2021, John Kamau reporting for Daily Nation wrote: Detectives say they have finalized investigations into tenders involving companies associated with Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, putting the legislator in trouble over Sh12 billion said to have passed through his accounts. The number of companies associated with the MP’s transactions, and those of his proxies, have now reached 40, revealing what seems to be a complex web of transfers.
On Monday, July 26, 2021, when the Mathira MP Hon Rigathi Gachagua was arraigned in court, all those allegations went up in smoke as all DCI tabled against him were unsubstantiated claims he received payments amounting to Ksh. 145,898,570.85 between December 2014 and January 2019. Further, the DCI alleged transactions in three of the MP’s accounts between 2013 and 2020 amounting to Ksh. 7.3 Billion was money laundering after all along making Kenyans believe he was investigating the MP for “questionable” tenders worth Ksh. 12.5 Billion done by him and his companies.
How Hon. Rigathi Gachagua transacting Ksh. 7.3 Billion through his accounts in 7 years’ is money laundering while DCI is on record alleging that the MP and companies associated with him have done “questionable” tenders worth Ksh. 12.5 Billion is inconceivable. Was the MP supposed to keep all the money from the said tenders under the mattress?
Kenyans were expecting DCI to come up with a charge sheet full of hundreds of counts against the MP for each of the Ksh. 12.5 Billion worth of “questionable” tenders alongside the persons who awarded the tenders to him or his companies. For DCI to turn up in court to question the source of Ksh. 7.3 Billion transacted by Hon. Rigathi Gachagua in 7 years after telling us he has done Ksh. 12 Billion worth of “questionable” tenders is shooting himself on the foot.
Needless to say, the shallow state of the six charges levelled against Hon Rigathi Gachagua leaves many of us convinced that any public money used in investigating the MP in the last two years should be refunded by DCI Kinoti himself. It is time investigating agencies started to disclose how much is used in investigating “graft” claims for Kenyans to know whether they are getting return for investment (ROI) out of some of these needless wild goose chases. The Inspector General of Police should consider constituting a Board within the service for approving every investigation the DCI to restore public confidence in the directorate.