Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now claims that were it not for the government’s contentious decision to dispatch batches of police officers to Haiti, three police reservists who were slain by gunmen in Meru would still be alive.
Speaking during an exclusive sit-down with Weru TV on Sunday, April 27, 2025, Gachagua said the nation is now grappling with insecurity issues because officers who were meant to be safeguarding various parts of the country were deployed on a peacekeeping mission to the Caribbean nation.
According to him, those very officers stationed in Haiti are the reason there was a shortage of security personnel in Meru, and the tragic murder would not have occurred had Ruto been strategic enough to deploy the officers locally instead of sending them abroad.
‘I send my heartfelt condolences to Igembe North following the deaths of the three police reservists last week. It is heartbreaking, and I stand in solidarity with the families and with Meru during this difficult time. It is because Ruto sent our officers to Haiti that these insecurities are now unfolding. Officers were dispatched to Haiti while the country is battling a surge in insecurity. It is due to the absence of these officers that the nation is suffering and that those three officers lost their lives,’ he said.
Not in government
Further, Gachagua, who was pressed to explain why he was castigating Ruto’s government so strongly for sending officers to Haiti despite having been in government when the plans were initiated, insisted that he had never endorsed Ruto’s decision to approve the peacekeeping mission.
He maintained that he had, from the outset, been urging the President to abandon the mission, further adding that Ruto never heeded his counsel and went ahead to deploy the officers after orchestrating his impeachment.
‘Yes, I was part of the government at the time when Ruto expressed his desire to send officers to Haiti, but I never consented to it. I had been opposing the mission from the word go, and I never authorised anything related to it. I was the one criticising it openly,’ Gachagua said.
Reservists killed
The former Mathira MP was speaking about the grim Monday, April 7, 2025, incident where three police reservists were ambushed and shot dead by bandits in the Mea, Igembe North area of Meru County.
The attack, confirmed by County Commissioner Jacob Ouma, also saw the officers stripped of their firearms, while 87 cattle, 22 goats, and seven donkeys were stolen during the violent raid.
The commissioner added that the attack had taken place at around 6 pm, and that the three reservists had been encircled by scores of bandits.
The gun battle raged for close to an hour before backup reservists managed to subdue the situation and recover the stolen livestock.
“We received reports of the raid in the Mea area and responded promptly. A fierce exchange of fire ensued, and tragically, three reservists were fatally shot. Initially, we were unaware of the overwhelming number of bandits. The police reservists were surrounded when they reached the area where the cattle had been taken. The shoot-out lasted about an hour,” the commisoner said.