Former Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has alleged that late Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo was holding more than KSh1.5 trillion (about US$11 billion) on behalf of President William Ruto when he died in a helicopter crash last week.
Gachagua made the allegations while speaking to members of the clergy in Boston, United States, on Sunday, October 4, claiming that he knew about business dealings between Ruto and Chivayo from his time as the President’s deputy.
Gachagua alleged that Chivayo had been used to move and hold money for Ruto, claiming that the businessman would receive funds in dollars, travel by plane to private airstrips and keep the money on the President’s behalf.
“He is a man he has been using for money laundering,” Gachagua alleged during the meeting, adding that Chivayo had been holding more than KSh1.5 trillion when he died.
“The man has his money, over 1.5 trillion. The man is dead, his wife is dead, he doesn’t know where to begin,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua did not provide documentary evidence to support the allegation, and the claim that Chivayo was holding the money for Ruto has not been independently verified. Kenyan media reporting on the remarks also noted that neither Ruto nor his representatives had publicly responded to the allegation at the time of publication.
Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, died in a helicopter crash in Zimbabwe’s Marondera area on September 30, alongside other people aboard the aircraft. Zimbabwean authorities said there were no survivors, while President Emmerson Mnangagwa later confirmed Chivayo’s death.
Gachagua also sought to distance himself from any suggestion that he had a role in the crash. Referring to the circumstances surrounding Chivayo’s death, he said he was in the United States when the accident occurred in Zimbabwe and insisted that neither he nor opposition leaders were responsible.
“William Ruto, please don’t blame Riggy G. I didn’t kill this guy. I was in the United States. The accident happened in Zimbabwe. Surely, I have nothing to do with it,” he said.
The former deputy president went further, alleging that Chivayo had been involved in a plan connected to Kenya’s 2027 presidential election. Gachagua claimed the Zimbabwean businessman was expected to act as a local intermediary for a South Korean technology company and alleged that tender specifications had been prepared to favour the company.
He did not provide evidence for that allegation either. Reports from Kenyan media said Gachagua linked the alleged arrangement to election technology and claimed Chivayo was expected to help influence the 2027 vote.
Gachagua’s latest remarks come against the background of Chivayo’s publicly known relationship with Ruto. The Zimbabwean businessman had appeared with the Kenyan president on several occasions and was known to have maintained relationships with political figures in several African countries. AP reported that Chivayo had previously faced scrutiny and allegations surrounding his business and political activities, although he denied wrongdoing.
The KSh1.5 trillion figure, however, remains an allegation made by Gachagua rather than an established amount of money linked to Ruto or Chivayo. No evidence confirming the existence, ownership or location of such funds has been publicly presented in connection with Gachagua’s remarks.
The allegations have already drawn political criticism in Kenya. Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, a close ally of Ruto, dismissed Gachagua’s claims and questioned the allegation that such a large amount could have been moved and held in the manner described.
The dispute therefore remains centered on competing political claims, with Gachagua presenting the allegations as information he says he knew while serving as deputy president, while no independent evidence has so far established that Chivayo held KSh1.5 trillion belonging to Ruto.
