Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua; PHOTO[COURTESY]
The video was taken in 2021 and is of Gachagua talking about MCAs being given 2M car grants to pass the BBI during President Uhuru’s regime
This post on X(formerly Twitter) accompanied by a video claiming that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua admitted to legislators being bribed with KSh 2m to pass the 2024 Finance Bill is false.
The post, dated August 3, 2024, reads: “Finally Riggy G confesses MPs were bribed 2mil…I’m here for such moments.”
The accompanying video, originally uploaded on TikTok, is titled “GLOVES OFF, GACHAGUA ACCUSES RUTO OF BRIBING MPS TO PASS FINANCE BILL.”
In the video, Deputy Gachagua is addressing a gathering and says: “Wakaongea wakasema basi mwambie Rais kama anataka tupitishe, sisi tunataka hongo, ya shilingi milioni mbili. Rais akakubali. Hiyo ni ufisadi ama si ufisadi?”
This translates to: “They spoke and said, then tell the President if he wants us to pass, we want a bribe of two million shillings. The President agreed. Is that corruption or not corruption?”
The viral video was widely shared across X(formerly Twitter) on August 7, 2024, appearing on multiple accounts.
Woman Kenya Network thoroughly investigated the keyframes using InVid-WeVerify through reverse image searches on Google, Yandex, Bing, and TinEye, but did not bear any fruit.
A keyword search on YouTube led to a similar video posted on February 2, 2021, titled: “Smell of corruption-Rigathi Gachagua reveals secret behind MCA’s with 2 million car grant each.”
To further authenticate the findings, a subsequent reverse image search of a screengrab from the video revealed that the video had been published on Facebook (archive link here) on January 31, 2021.
A further keyword search uncovered the video was also published by Standard Media (archive link here) on February 1, 2021.
In the video, Gachagua, the then Mathira Member of Parliament, accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of bribing Mount Kenya Members of County Assembly(MCAs) with 2 million car grants to pass the Building Bridges Initiative(BBI).
Gachagua’s remarks came days after President Uhuru Kenyatta visited the region where in a meeting with the region’s leadership including MCAs, Kenyatta promised to push for a 2 million car grant each, if they would pass the BBI.
Earlier in June 2024, Members of Parliament who voted in favor of the now withdrawn Finance Bill,2024, were accused of receiving a 2 million bribe beforehand. However, Juja MP George Koimburi, who initially made the accusations, publicly apologized during the July 23, 2024 parliamentary proceedings.
Later on June 29, 2024, Gachagua, also known as Riggy G, defended the legislators and dismissed bribery allegations, urging the public to respect their leaders.
Woman Kenya Network investigated the claim that the Deputy President admitted to MPs receiving a 2 million bribe to pass the Finance Bill 2024 and found it to be false.
This fact-check was written by Woman Kenya Network fact-checker Trizah Mmwanda and edited by Woman Kenya Project lead Shadrack Agamira.
This fact-check was produced by Woman Kenya Network, under the African Fact-Checking Incubator program, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance(AFCA).
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