Africa-Press – Kenya. Mandera Senator Ali Roba has faulted former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over what he termed as engaging in ‘reckless’ ethnic politics and spreading unfounded allegations against legitimate businesses.
In a statement responding to a circulating video, Roba dismissed Gachagua’s remarks as misleading and harmful, saying they were not grounded in evidence or legitimate political discourse.
“What we are witnessing is not a political statement, but a public display of delusion and reckless tribal whistling,” Roba said.
His remarks after the ex-DP Gachagua onSunday alleged that some malls in Eastleigh were developed through illegal money from the US.
Gachagua, who spoke at the AIPCA church in Githunguri, Kiambu County, also claimed that the owners are connected to influential local politicians.
The senator claimed Gachagua is attempting to tarnish businesses with verifiable and lawful sources of funding by linking them to crimes committed in the United States by individuals with no connection to the developments in question.
According to Roba, such claims ignore established systems of accountability and oversight, particularly in the United States.
“In this clip, Rigathi Gachagua attempts to smear legitimate businesses with transparent, traceable funding, while absurdly linking them to crimes committed in the United States by entirely unrelated criminals,” he said.
Roba rejected the notion that foreign institutions would rely on political rhetoric rather than verifiable facts, audits, and intelligence.
“The assumption seems to be that American institutions are naïve enough to discard evidence, audits, and intelligence systems and instead rely on the ethnic bitterness of a politician in political free fall,” he added.
He further emphasised that the United States operates on rigorous verification processes, not conspiracy theories or emotional outbursts.
“America does not operate on conspiracy theories, tantrums, or tribal resentment,” Roba said.
“American institutions verify facts before drawing conclusions.”
The Mandera warned that such remarks risk reviving divisive ethnic narratives that Kenya has repeatedly sought to overcome.
Roba also rejected claims that business relations between communities are driven by ethnic hostility, pointing to Eastleigh as an example of successful inter-community cooperation.
“The Kikuyu community has never had a problem doing business with the Somali community,” he said.
“Eastleigh did not become a commercial powerhouse through hatred, but it rose through trust, enterprise, and mutual benefit.”
