Brian Mayodi
According to Turkana South MP John Namoit, DP Rigathi Gachagua is abusing his position of power by using the legal system to his advantage.
Namoit stated on Thursday that it was inappropriate for the court to give Gachagua the money it had confiscated at this time.
He questioned if Gachagua would have received the funds if he hadn’t been a government official.
“Just by Gachagua being a deputy president, now that he has been awarded back what the court had taken away from him is not in order,” Namoit said.
“They have taken advantage of being in government and that is not right because I know if he was not in government, he could not have gotten that award.”
The MP for Turkana South denied rumours that the DP was being pursued by the previous administration because he refused to cooperate with them.
He argued that everyone should be treated equally under the law.
“I don’t think so, the law must apply equally to all citizens of Kenya. At that time, he was an MP. It is a broken system and abuse of power,” Namoit said.
Judges from the Court of Appeal Daniel Musinga, Imaana Laibuta, and Ngenye Macharia decided to support Gachagua and the Assets Recovery Agency’s resolution to have the money returned to him on Wednesday.
After months of legal wrangling, the Sh202 million that had previously been declared as proceeds of crime was given back to Gachagua.
Judge Esther Maina of the High Court had ordered the money be forfeited to the state in June of last year, but Gachagua appealed the ruling.
