Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been summoned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to provide a statement regarding an alleged assassination attempt.

Gachagua made these allegations on Sunday after being discharged from Karen Hospital, where he had been admitted the previous week due to illness, just hours before a Senate vote that confirmed an earlier National Assembly decision to send him home.

“The president aims to lead me down the same path that President Daniel Arap Moi took with Kenneth Matiba, who was pushed to the brink of a stroke and ultimately died,” Gachagua asserted, voicing concerns that President Ruto is attempting to “cripple” him in a similar manner.

He recounted two instances during his tenure in office when he claims National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents made attempts on his life.

“I want to assure the people of Kenya that I do not feel safe,” Gachagua declared. He detailed the first incident, which allegedly took place on August 30 in Kisumu, where undercover agents reportedly infiltrated his hotel room.

“They bugged my room, and one of them attempted to poison my food, but we detected the plot and managed to escape,” he stated. “I was meant to be killed through poisoning.”

Gachagua also claimed that a second assassination attempt occurred shortly thereafter, on September 30 in Nyeri, during a gathering with the Kikuyu Council of Elders.

“Another team from the National Intelligence Service tried to poison food meant for me and the elders,” he said.

“After these two attempts, I reported the matter to NIS and asked the officers assigned to me to leave because I did not feel safe.”

Gachagua who is fighting his removal as Deputy President in court claimedt his impeachment finalised on Thursday followed the failed assassination attempts.

“After the two attempts to assassinate me failed, that is when this impeachment motion was hatched,” Gachagua asserted.

He also said that the withdrawal of his security detail while in the hospital has left him vulnerable.

Gachagua told reportters NIS officers lurked around the hospital during his time there.

“Officers from the NIS have been hovering in every room, in every compound here,” Gachagua said, noting that he had to call his wife and children to stay in his hospital room out of fear for his safety.

Expressing frustration and disappointment, Gachagua made a personal plea to President William Ruto: “I helped you become president. Leave me and my children alone. Do whatever you want, but let me live, let me look after my children.”

He also accused the President of orchestrating his downfall and likened his situation to that of the late politician Kenneth Matiba, who suffered a stroke after enduring political persecution under the Moi regime.

“The president wants to take me down the same path President Daniel Arap Moi took with Kenneth Matiba. He pushed Matiba to the point of getting a stroke and eventually dying,” Gachagua claimed, expressing fear that Ruto was similarly trying to “cripple” him.

Additionally, Gachagua lamented the apparent eagerness of some government officials to see him incapacitated or dead.

“I hear many of his people were calling here [in the hospital], asking whether I was dead, whether I would survive, whether I would recover. They were celebrating. It’s the most unfortunate thing that has ever happened in this country.”