Ichung’wah Insists Gachagua Purchased 2 Hotels Through Proxies Despite Elaborate Explanation
Kimani Ichung’wah, National Assembly Majority Leader and Kikuyu MP has expressed concerns about the ownership and legitimacy of several properties linked to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who is under fire.
Ichung’wah addressed the National Assembly on Tuesday during the DP’s impeachment hearing, challenging Gachagua’s claims about ownership of the Olive Garden Hotel and Vipingo Beach Resorts.
The two are among several properties at the heart of the second-in-command’s removal effort.
Gachagua has maintained that the properties are part of his family’s assets and the estate of his late brother Nderitu Gachagua and that they are not being used to channel criminal proceeds, as his political detractors have suggested.
Prior to my brother’s death, he wrote a will and appointed DP Gachagua as an executor of that will and his friend Mwai Mathenge and lawyer Njoroge Regeru, DP Gachagua refutes MP Mutuse’s allegations on his wealth. #ImpeachingGachagua pic.twitter.com/sIj6kDA8tl
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) October 7, 2024
However, Ichung’wah painted a different picture, accusing Gachagua of using proxies to hide his ownership of these properties.
He first concentrated on the Olive Garden Hotel, which he claimed had been sold to a third party with close ties to Gachagua himself.
According to the Majority Leader, the hotel was sold by the joint executors of the late Governor Nderitu Gachagua’s will, which included Gachagua, advocate Njoroge Regeru, and Mwai Mathenge.
Ichung’wah also cited a legal document filed in June 2024 as evidence that the will’s executors made independent decisions, with the exception of Gachagua, who served as both a beneficiary and an executor.
“If you read the report filed in court on June 27, 2024, by the joint will executors, it says that the joint will executors will make decisions independent of the beneficiaries and without influence from any beneficiary, except for one who is both a beneficiary and an executor,” he said.
Kimani Ichung’wah: If you look at the time this company Vipingo Beach Resort was formed, it was founded on 5th August 2008. I would guess if Keith Gachagua is 31 years old today, at the time this company was registered, he was only 14 or 15 years old, he cannot have been listed… pic.twitter.com/0t0ruADCud
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 8, 2024
“The joint will executors do not have the same attributes and mandates as for trustees where beneficiaries would play a part in assisting in decision making.
“What this is saying is that Rigathi Gachagua as a joint will executor was also a beneficiary of the estate of his late brother. He was not only a joint will executor; he was a beneficiary and purchaser for the value of the estate of his late brother.”
The National Assembly Majority Leader also claimed that the property had been transferred to a man named Peterson Njomo Muchira, whom he identified as a direct proxy for the DP.
Muchira, who previously ran for the Gichugu Constituency MP seat, was described by Ichung’wah as a permanent fixture in Gachagua’s office, implying that the transaction was orchestrated to conceal the DP’s ownership.
“I called Muchira this afternoon when I saw this document and asked him whether TM Civil Engineering Limited is his company and he confirmed to me that it is indeed his company,” he said.
“I, therefore, want to tell you Olive Gardens was purchased through the proxy of Peterson Njomo Muchira with zero shares and TM Civil Engineering Limited with 6,000 shares.
“Those who have visited the Annex House Office of the DP know Muchira is a permanent fixture in the office of the DP and therefore his direct proxy.”
Ichung’wah focused his attention on Vipingo Beach Resorts in Kilifi County, claiming that Gachagua misled the public about the property’s ownership.
Gachagua previously told Kenyans in a televised interview that the property was still owned by his family, but Ichung’wah claims this was false.
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He pointed out that the official records show that the property is owned by Keith Rigathi and Kevin Gachagua, who are both listed as directors and shareholders of the resort.
“The owners listed are Keith Rigathi, Kevin Gachagua Rigathi and the estate of the deceased, James Nderitu Gachagua. It is a rather ingenious way of trying to hide behind the estate of his late brother,” said Ichung’wah.
“How shameful that the DP would hide behind the veil of the estate of his late brother to disguise what is outright proceeds of crime because he is the purchaser of this property and that is why his two sons are listed as directors and shareholders of Vipingo Beach Resort.”
Ichung’wah added: “Vipingo Beach Resort was founded on August 5, 2008. I would guess if Keith Gachagua is 31 years old today, at the time this company was registered, he was only 15 or 14 years old, he cannot be listed as a director. His younger brother might have been 12 or 13.”
Ichung’wah Insists Gachagua Purchased 2 Hotels Through Proxies Despite Elaborate Explanation
