Gachagua accuses Murkomen of wasting time in fight against drug abuse
By David Nthua, July 31, 2025Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has slammed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen over what he termed as an empty show of government effort to curb the sale and abuse of illicit alcohol.
Through a hard-hitting post on his verified X account on Thursday, July 31, 2025, Gachagua accused Murkomen of misleading Kenyans and making hollow declarations instead of taking real action.
“CS Interior, you are wasting your time and enjoying the people of Kenya and treating them as fools,” Gachagua said. “While in office, I put practical measures to curb illicit alcohol and check drug abuse.”
Gachagua said that in just one year of “consistent hard work and practical interventions,” he had successfully eliminated poisonous brews and helped restore sobriety to many communities.
He claimed that young people returned home, started families, and took up productive activities, while the Kenya Revenue Authority recorded higher excise revenues as consumers shifted to genuine, tax-compliant alcohol brands.
Sabotage and hypocrisy
Gachagua further alleged that all those gains were deliberately sabotaged by President William Ruto’s administration. He singled out Murkomen’s predecessor and a Principal Secretary whom he claimed had worked behind the scenes to reopen the very distilleries his office had shut down.
“Your PS personally looked for manufacturers of illicit alcohol that we had shut down and authorised them to continue manufacturing and distributing poison,” he wrote.
He also blamed the President for ending a youth addiction recovery programme that had been championed by the Deputy President’s spouse, withdrawing funds that had been supporting rehabilitation across the country.
Taking a final jab at the Cabinet, Gachagua questioned how the government could claim to fight drug abuse while retaining senior officials with known links to drug trafficking.
“Mr Murkomen, drama and loftiness won’t help. We have sufficient laws and regulations. Implement them. Spare Kenyans the joke and get to work,” he concluded.