The Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) has announced that its leader, Rigathi Gachagua, is set to return to the country on Thursday, August 21.

In a statement issued on Thursday, August 14, the party alleged that there were plans to divert the former Deputy President’s flight and eventually assassinate him following his return from a tour of the United States.

According to DCP, intelligence reports they received suggest a plot to kill Gachagua through slow and discreet poisoning.

The party further claimed that senior figures had arranged for him to be abducted upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), subjected to intimidation and assault, and then placed under house arrest.

“Intelligence reaching us points to a scheme so evil, so cowardly, that it chills the soul: their intent is to subject him to slow and silent assassination by poisoning – the very same cruel method once inflicted on the late Kenneth Matiba while in state custody. This is not hearsay. It is a deliberate plot to silence the voice of the people by physically destroying its leader,” the statement read in part.

DCP further alleged that the plan is aimed at abducting, intimidating and brutalising him before placing him under house arrest, cutting him off from his supporters, and denying him the right to address the nation. 

“They want to kill his voice and his body at the same time. But let this be clear: if they dare lay a hand on him, the country will grind to a halt,” the party cautioned.

“Nelson Koech, Chair of the National Assembly Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, has revealed another calculated provocation: a plan to divert H.E. Gachagua’s flight to Mombasa or Kisumu International Airport so that they deny him an opportunity to give a much-anticipated address to the nation,” the party continued.

The party has, however, maintained that these alleged plots will not hinder Gachagua’s scheduled return to the country.

DCP has urged its supporters in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa to gather in large numbers to welcome their leader, who has been on a nearly two-month visit to the United States.

On Thursday, the party claimed that Gachagua had shortened his trip to spearhead by-election campaigns for its candidates in various constituencies.