Ruto is doing gold business with Hemedti, Gachagua now claims

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now claims that President William Ruto is in the gold business with Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

In an Interview with a national Television yesterday evening, Gachagua claimed that Hamdan, commonly referred to as Hemedti, is in a partnership with the head of state, saying they transport gold from Sudan to Kenya before it is sold in Dubai.

“The president has put his interests ahead of the country’s interest. They are doing business with RSF chief in gold which is being got from Sudan then brought to Nairobi then to Dubai,” Gachagua claimed.

The ousted former DP further alleged that he invited Hemedti to Kenya in 2023 on behalf of the president but it was not for the interest of the nation but Ruto’s.

Gachagua stated that he was asked to invite the paramilitary chief who upon arriving in Nairobi was locked in a room with his former boss but he was locked out.

“There was nothing about Kenya. It was about gold and other things. I was told to leave because it had nothing to do with Kenya. After the meeting, I took him out and when I inquired I was told they were doing business,” he added.

Gachagua called out the president for engaging with the sanctioned group, adding that allowing them to use government facilities is eroding the reputation of Kenya and crippling its diplomatic ties.

“It is putting Kenya in a very bad light. President Ruto must accept that he will not be president forever. He cannot destroy this country and the way we are perceived by other nations. He must be a nationalist, rise above commercial and personal interests, and put the country first. The RSF group has been flagged by the international community, and sanctions have been slapped against them for genocide and killing of children,” he stated.

He insinuated that there is no difference between the RSF and Kenya Kwanza government because they are all killing children.

“Birds of the same feather flock together. RSF is killing children in Sudan and President William Ruto’s government is killing Kenyan children,” he stated.

Gachagua intimated that African presidents have retracted from involving themselves in peace initiatives led by Ruto because of his involvement in the violence and conflict witnessed in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“We have handled DRC very badly, and I am told many African presidents are unwilling to get involved in peace initiatives led by President Ruto because he is conflicted with a commercial and personal interest that he has put above national interest,” Rigathi stated.

The statements by Gachagua comes after Kenya defended herself from its recent decision to allow RSF to use the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi after a backlash from the Sudan government.

The paramilitary group together with its accomplice launched a parallel government weeks after regaining ground in Khartoum along several axes closing the symbolic presidential palace along the Nile.

They control most of the west of Sudan and they are engaged in an intense campaign to cement its control of the Darfur region by seizing the city of al-Fashir.

Burhan ruled out a Ramadan ceasefire unless the RSF stopped that campaign.

The Sudan war erupted in April 2023 after disputes on the integration of the two forces emerged after they worked together to oust civilians with whom they had shared power after the uprising that ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The entry of RSF into Kenya has since attracted criticism of the Kenyan government as questions are raised on whether the Ruto administration cares about respecting diplomatic conventions.