Rigathi Gachagua is the current member of parliament for Mathira constituency. Despite being a first time MP, he is not new to politics as his late brother Nderitu Gachagua was the governor of Nyeri county.
The MP is a close associate of the deputy president William Ruto. The Mathira MP made headlines after seeking to amend the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act to tame Chinese and other foreign companies. One of his reasons was that for the big four agenda to be realized, contracts below Ksh1 billion should be awarded to Kenyans and only given to others if Kenyans are unable to do it.
Family
He was born to Nahashon Gachagua and Mama Jane Kirigo. His mother passed away in December 2019 and in his eulogy, he described her as a loving, caring mother who wanted the best for her children.
The first time MP is married to Dorcas Rigathi who lost her mother Virginia Wambui Ikinu to cancer at the age of 86 in the midst of the then fairly new Covid-19 pandemic.
Education
He attended Kabiruini Primary School and later Kianyaga secondary school. He then proceeded to the University of Nairobi for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Literature.
Career
Gachajua was in real estate before he plunged into the tumultuous world of politics. After the death of his brother, the late Nderitu Gachagua, he wanted to run for the Nyeri gubernatorial seat. In fact, during the time of his brother’s illness, he was accused of meddling in the Nyeri county affairs and standing in place of his brother, which was not his work but was the work of the deputy governor. Some Members of the County Assembly even accused him of taking advantage of the fact that the deputy governor was laid back.
However, he dropped his bid for the gubernatorial race and instead ran for the Mathira parliamentary seat on a Jubilee party ticket and won.
Prior to getting into real estate, he worked as a district officer. He then resigned and went to work as a personal assistant to the then head of public service and secretary to the cabinet Prof Philip Mbithi who served between 1992 and 1996.
Money Laundry claims
Asset Recovery Agents (ARA) accused the MP of engaging in money laundering. ARA claimed the legislator had received more than kes12.5 billion from three accounts in Rafiki Micro Finance Bank. These payments were flagged and labelled suspicious. They told the court that they had traced kes7.3 billion withdrawals through bank statements in accounts that were left with kes200 million. The agency went on to say there are no bank statements to show how the kes5.1 billion balance was withdrawn from the fixed deposit account in what it called a complex scheme of money laundering. The high court froze more than kes200 million belonging to Gachagua.
The MP, however, questioned the agency’s findings saying the kes200 million had been the same fixed revolving fund rotating between three accounts for the last 7 years. He then went on to explain how Rafiki Microfinance worked.
