Wamuzi News Ke
The motorcade of former Deputy President and the leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), Rigathi Gachagua, suffered a sudden and heavy police teargas attack on Friday afternoon when he was on his way to a rally in Kagio, Kirinyaga County, an incident that created panic among his supporters and the people using the road.
The police dispersed the teargas at Sagana, which was described by the senior party officials to be an attempt to stop the political event, but Gachagua reached his place anyway and spoke to a determined crowd.
According to eyewitnesses and photos shared on social media, there were tear gas canisters and broken car windows on the main junction about 34 kilometers away from Kagio, which raises immediate issues over the use of police crowd control methods and political interference.
Among the people in the convoy was Nyandarua Senator John Methu, who, although not injured, has confirmed that the security response was surprising and that the tensions on the Sagana–Kagio route were heightened.
The situation that led to the police taking such actions is still not clear; the verdict of the National Police Service is, however, awaited.
According to preliminary reports from the participants, the officers may have tried to minimize the noise and the number of people in Gachagua’s procession, but the use of teargas—which is usually reserved for breaking up aggressive crowds—has been strongly condemned as a means of escalating what was meant to be a political outreach.
The very unstable interruption that occurred didn’t stop Gachagua from putting on a bulletproof vest and a helmet before talking to the public in Kagio; rather, it made the confrontation an unscheduled but very effective rallying moment.
He treated the police action as a sign of the greater pressure that the opposition leaders are experiencing, and therefore, he planned to continue with his campaign activities.
The occurrence marks another incident in a series of confrontations between Gachagua’s camp and the police during the upcoming 2025-2026 elections, with earlier reports of teargas being utilized in gatherings of the former deputy president’s supporters.
Political analysts have expressed their concerns that such clashes might possibly lead to even more divided political opinions and also to public doubt regarding the neutrality of law enforcement in the upcoming elections, being critical ones already.
There have been no injuries reported so far from any formal sources, but the use of tear gas on the crowd has raised concern among civil society groups, who are now demanding immediate investigation into police action and clearer rules for the handling of political motorcades and rallies.
