The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has accused Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of risking the progress of investigations into the murder of Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso by communicating with one of the main suspects and later discussing the case publicly.
DCI Director Mohamed Amin said on Friday that investigators had established communication between Gachagua and a person they consider a key suspect in the murder, as well as contact involving a boda boda rider believed to be linked to the case.
Amin criticised politicians for commenting on criminal investigations that are still active, saying information that could help detectives should be handed directly to investigators instead of being discussed at political rallies.
“I don’t even know whether Rigathi Gachagua had the opportunity to pass his condolences to the family of Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso. And it’s not good for politicians to politicise matters under active investigation,” Amin said.
The DCI boss said detectives had from the beginning assured the public that they would pursue Mutiso’s killing to its logical conclusion and had already identified several persons of interest.
“We informed the country that this matter would be investigated to its logical conclusion, and we stated very clearly that we had persons of interest, several of them persons that we knew, but we were conducting our investigations very professionally and very meticulously.”
Amin said detectives later established that Gachagua had been communicating with one of the main suspects, who he alleged had been providing the former deputy president with information about the investigation.
“Unfortunately, what came out very clearly is that Hon. Rigathi Gachagua was in communication with one of our main suspects in this matter, who was feeding him with this information, and that we were able to establish. Apparently, he also appears to have been in communication with the boda boda rider.”
According to Amin, Gachagua should have approached the DCI directly if he had information that could assist detectives in identifying those behind Mutiso’s killing.
“If Rigathi Gachagua meant well for these investigations, because we are not dealing with politics, we are dealing with a murder investigation, instead of going to a political rally, he should have just called me or even come to my office and say, ‘DCI, I have this information which I believe will be useful for your investigations.’”
Amin said the DCI remained ready to receive any information Gachagua might have that could help investigators establish what happened.
“I am still urging him, if he feels that he has any information that can assist us to unravel this matter, please let him feel free and come and share that information with us.”
The DCI director further claimed that public statements about the case may have affected the police operation, saying some suspects arrested on Thursday night were close to crossing the international border when detectives moved in.
He warned that politicians should avoid discussing active criminal investigations, saying public interventions could affect police operations and make it harder for detectives to bring those responsible to justice.
Amin also gave an update on investigations into the killing of lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu, the former chairperson of the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal.
Mbobu’s murder is linked to the wider investigation surrounding Mutiso’s death, with Amin saying detectives were still actively pursuing the case and had made progress.
The DCI boss expressed confidence that investigators would identify those responsible for Mbobu’s fatal shooting within the next one to two weeks.
Amin’s comments came hours after Gachagua posted on his X account claiming that he had received information linking specific individuals to the death of Mutiso.
Gachagua had urged investigators to pursue the leads, prompting a strong response from the DCI director over the handling of information relating to the murder investigation.