Gachagua vows 100,000-people march after IG Kanja snubs meeting
Former Deputy President and Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has sharply criticised Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja for failing to meet him and fellow opposition leaders yesterday to discuss escalating attacks on their political activities.
The United Opposition delegation, which included Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, DAP-Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa, lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, and supporters, had gone to Vigilance House on Monday expecting a direct engagement with Kanja.
Instead, they were informed that he would not be available, with senior police officers delegated in his place, a move the leaders outright rejected.
Gachagua told journalists that the matter was too serious to be handled by junior officers.
“We have declined to meet junior officers who have been delegated to meet us.It was Inspector General Douglas Kanja himself who promised to give us answers about our attacks, but he has gone missing,” he said, vowing to return on Friday to demand a personal audience with the police chief.
In response to the continued inaction, Gachagua announced plans to mobilise 100,000 Kenyans on Friday in a massive march to Kanja’s office in Nairobi, warning that the capital would come to a standstill.
“Tumemwambia siku ya ijumaa, saa tatu, tutakuja kwako na watu elfu mia moja kutoka jijini Nairobi,” he stated, signaling the opposition’s determination to press for justice over the Witima church attack.
The standoff centers on a pattern of violent disruptions targeting opposition meetings.
Gachagua and Kalonzo highlighted a recent attack at a church service in Othaya where tear gas canisters were reportedly thrown into the compound, forcing attendees including Gachagua to flee into nearby bushes.
According to Gachagua, investigations into the incident have concluded, implicating 12 police officers and a sitting Member of Parliament, who allegedly provided lunch to the officers after the attack.
The opposition leaders accused Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, rather than Kanja, of issuing orders to disrupt their meetings and erect illegal roadblocks.
“We are aware that it’s Murkomen and Omollo ordering police to disrupt our meetings and erect illegal roadblocks on roads leading to our rallies. They can take over the work of the Inspector General instead of issuing illegal orders,” said Gachagua.
The leaders stressed that the ongoing violence had national implications and threatened to take the matter to the International Criminal Court.
“We have documented all the abuses from 2023 to date and will be presenting them to the ICC. We cannot allow such happenings to take place in our country,” said Kalonzo.
The standoff also follows the disruption of a political rally organised by Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna in Kitengela, where two people reportedly lost their lives following police intervention. Opposition leaders are demanding accountability for the violence.
Gachagua further recalled an earlier confrontation with Inspector General Kanja over the January 25, 2026, attack at ACK Witima Church in Othaya, during which police lobbed tear gas canisters into the church compound and building.
He accused the police chief of deliberately avoiding him, saying in Kiswahili, “Tumefika pale akatorokea mlango ya nyuma. Anaogopa kukutana na sisi” (We got there and he left through the back door, afraid of meeting with us).
