NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 11-Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has warned that Kenya is becoming unsafe for foreigners, accusing the Ruto administration of allowing a pattern of cross-border abductions, forced deportations and alleged transnational repression.

📻 Breaking It Down

Gachagua called on foreign embassies and diplomatic missions accredited to Kenya to take steps to protect their citizens and staff, arguing that the alleged incidents have raised serious concerns about the safety of foreigners in the country.

“Foreigners are not safe, Investors are not safe, no one in Kenya is safe,” Gachagua said while presenting his four-year accountability statement and performance audit of President William Ruto’s administration on Tuesday.

“I ask the members of all our Development Partners and Foreign Embassies accredited to Kenya, to ensure that their staff and citizens are safe in Kenya.”

📌 What You Need to Know

Gachagua cited several cases involving foreign nationals and opposition figures whom he claimed were abducted, detained or forcibly deported from Kenya.

Among the cases he highlighted was the alleged forced return to Uganda of 36 Ugandan opposition supporters on July 24, 2024, following what he described as a joint Kenyan-Ugandan security operation.

He also cited the October 2024 abduction of seven Turkish asylum seekers in Nairobi by masked men, saying Kenya later confirmed that four were forcibly deported to Turkey in a joint security operation.

Gachagua said the deportation attracted condemnation from the UN refugee agency and human rights organisations.

He further pointed to the November 2024 abduction of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye while he was visiting Nairobi.

According to Gachagua, Kenyan officials denied knowledge of the incident while Ugandan authorities maintained that the operation had been coordinated.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya