**Senator hits back at Gachagua over attacks on police service**
A Kenyan senator has publicly rebuked former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for disparaging remarks directed at the Presidential Escort Unit, calling the comments an embarrassing act of ingratitude from a man those same officers once guarded with their lives.
The lawmaker, speaking during a session in Nairobi, said Gachagua’s decision to mock the president’s security detail as “jokers” crossed a line that no serious leader should approach. The senator reminded the former deputy president that members of the Presidential Escort Unit and the broader security apparatus around the executive had provided him round-the-clock protection during his tenure — protection that extended to his family and official residences across the country.
Gachagua was removed from office in October 2024 through a historic impeachment motion passed by both houses of Parliament, the first such removal of a sitting deputy president in Kenya’s constitutional history. Since leaving office, he has maintained a combative public posture, frequently criticising the Ruto administration and its security organs, which he accuses of harassment and intimidation.
The senator argued that, regardless of political grievances, attacking serving security officers who cannot publicly defend themselves was cowardly and unbecoming. Kenya’s police service has long operated under significant public scrutiny over human rights concerns, but the senator contended that Gachagua’s broadsides were political theatre rather than legitimate accountability.
The remarks drew mixed reaction on social media, with some Kenyans agreeing that officers deserve respect while others argued that scrutiny of any state security unit is legitimate. Gachagua’s office had not issued a formal response by the time of publication.
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