Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Friday, March 27, responded to allegations from the family of his brother, the late Nderitu Gachagua, that he disinherited them.
Speaking during a podcast interview, Gachagua dismissed a letter penned by his niece to President William Ruto, asking him to help them get justice and protect them from a powerful relative.
Gachagua accused Ruto of approaching his family members to have them write a letter to discredit his integrity as a leader.
He claimed that the move was the President's last resort after he failed to use the security organs to arrest him on fictitious charges.
"Yesterday, Wamumbi took them to State House, where they were told to sign some letters which are now circulating. I don't care; this is hot air and politics, and we will dismantle it," Gachagua reiterated.
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The former DP alleged that his nephew and nieces were offered lucrative incentives to perpetrate foul play in their late father's succession.
"I hear one of my nieces has been promised a board position so that they can complain about me, and another was promised a business opportunity. They have also been promised money, which is okay because I do not have money to give them," he added.
He alleged that some of his members had been hoodwinked into believing that they could receive more from the deceased if they revived the succession case.
The DCP leader warned Ruto to stay away from his family and intimated that the Gachaguas would formally respond to him through their lawyer.
He denied claims that he forged Nderitu's will, and questioned why his brother's kin were claiming injustice eight years after the matter was addressed in court.
"We went to court in 2018, and all of us told the judge that we had agreed with the content of the Will. The courts adopted the will and allowed the executors to go ahead and execute the Will," he stated.
Gachagua revealed that his brother ensured that everybody he cared about benefited in the Will, stating that he had at least 21 beneficiaries.
He disclosed that he was among three executors appointed by the former Governor to execute the Will, which was detailed to the latter.
The former DP revealed that his brother had instructed that his property be sold and the proceeds be used to pay off his debts and be shared among his loved ones, including two women with whom he sired children outside of wedlock.
"The late Gachagua gave his property to everybody; his two wives, his four children, and he had other women in his life whom he included in the will - two of them and their children," he disclosed.
Gachagua told his brother's children who wrote the letter addressed to Ruto that they were a little too late. He added that the final decision was with the court.
"They should shut up and shut up forever. If they want to, they can go back to court, but the window for appeal is over," he reiterated.
He further warned them that the President was only using them politically and alleged that he would soon dump them as he had done to him.
In the letter addressed to Ruto, Susan Nderitu claimed that the family had endured immense suffering and hardship since Governor Nderitu's death.
Susan appealed to Ruto to institute an independent investigation into an alleged forgery of her father's will and facilitate the return of all transferred assets and properties belonging to their father.
"A central concern is the Will purportedly cited and relied upon by the brother of the deceased, which causes our family to express deep concerns about forgery and a cunning scheme to disinherit the lawful beneficiaries of the late James Nderitu Gachagua. Significantly, the alleged will clearly bears the inscription “Draft Last Will and Testament” on its face, which self-evidently obliterates its validity and authenticity.
"A “draft” document cannot, by any stretch of reason or law, constitute the final will and testament of the deceased. Of gravity, is the fact that the alleged will was supposedly executed at a time when the late Hon. James Nderitu Gachagua was bedridden and profoundly grounded by Metastatic Pancreatic Carcinoma, the very medical condition certified as the cause of his death," part of the letter reads.
The family also requested the return of all property that was sold: "Return of all irregularly transferred assets and properties of James Nderitu Gachagua (Deceased), including Olive Gardens and Vipingo Beach Resort."
She further asked for the Nderitu family to be protected from further coercion, intimidation, and unlawful interference.
