A prominent mall in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate has filed a formal complaint with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) against Rigathi Gachagua, leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), over remarks linking the mall’s construction to funds from a U.S.-led investigation into the Minnesota fraud case.
The complaint was prompted by statements Gachagua reportedly made on January 4, during a church service at AIPCA Kiratina Church in Githunguri Constituency, Kiambu County. According to lawyers representing the mall owners, Gachagua alleged that money stolen in Minnesota, USA, had been funnelled to Kenya and used to build the Eastleigh mall.
“Our clients’ property is a lawfully established business, and any suggestion that it is linked to criminal funds is false and damaging,” the lawyers stated in their letter to the NCIC.
They further argued that Gachagua’s remarks repeatedly referenced ethnicity, implying collective culpability of the Somali community. The lawyers said this amounts to ethnic vilification and urged the NCIC to censure Gachagua for his comments.
The complaint urged NCIC to determine if the remarks amounted to ethnic contempt or hate speech, issue a censure, and recommend Gachagua for prosecution.
Additionally, the lawyers asked the commission to caution media houses against repeating the statements made by Gachagua, warning that this could inflame ethnic tensions and harm legitimate businesses.
“The continued uncritical broadcast or amplification of such utterances frustrates the objects of the Act and compounds the harm complained of. This demand is made in the public interest and in furtherance of the Commission's constitutional and statutory mandate. Any failure or undue delay in acting would raise concerns regarding the effective discharge of that mandate,” the letter added in part.
The developments come after Gachagua alleged that part of the funds, which were meant to help persons living with disabilities, were used to finance political campaigns, claiming that the mall in Eastleigh was constructed using the stolen money and that its owner was a business associate of the President.
Gachagua said the money was diverted from its intended purpose and invested in property in Kenya rather than being used to benefit vulnerable people. “That money was meant to help people living with disabilities. It was stolen, brought to Kenya and invested in land, houses, and the construction of a mall,” he claimed.
He went on to appeal directly to U.S. President Donald Trump, urging him to fast-track the extradition of suspects linked to the alleged fraud, drawing a comparison to how Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was apprehended and sent to the United States to face charges.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Eldas MP Aden Keynan criticised Gachagua, saying that he had deliberately made a false and malicious claim alleging that the iconic mall in Eastleigh was constructed using proceeds of fraud purportedly originating from Minnesota.
Keynan noted that the mall was developed on land lawfully acquired in 2009 and that the initial establishment was later redeveloped between 2018 and 2022.
The lawmaker described the attempt to associate the development with the Minnesota fraud as chronologically impossible and factually inaccurate, noting that the proprietor has operated in Eastleigh for more than 25 years.
