The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has come out to speak amidst claims that seven of its detectives were forced to resign. The seven, as claimed by the viral reports, spearheaded the arrest of Rigathi Gachagua at his Nyeri home over corruption allegations.

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua during his arrest in Nyeri by DCI officers

In a Twitter statement on Wednesday, the DCI set the record straight in the manner in which the officers left the agency. DCI confirmed that the officers did in fact leave the agency in August but did so of their own volition.

“Like in any other progressive institution, the resignation of staff to pursue other interests in life is well provided for in the National Police Service, under the NPS Service Standing Orders (SSO),” reads the DCI tweet.

“Therefore, the officers reported having resigned did so under the 24-hour rule on diverse dates last month and were not forced to leave the service as alleged.”

According to the DCI, the seven former officers cut ties with the agency in order to pursue different careers in the country’s private sector.

“The detectives who were based at different specialized units within the Directorate, left to pursue their careers in the private sector as financial investigators, fraud experts, IT specialists among others,” said the DCI.

A letter showing details of the officers in question

Rigathi Gachagua’s arrest by DCI officers in July 2021

Rigathi Gachagua was dramatically picked up on a cold Friday morning, at 6.am, by DCI officers from his Nyeri home and afterward, driven to Nairobi. Initially,  it wasn’t clear why he had been arrested but it later emerged that he was taken in over the corruption charges he was battling.

It was alleged that investigations were in high gear at that time to piece together details of how he registered 49 companies that he allegedly used to trade with various agencies in an intricate web that saw him win tenders worth more than Sh 12 billion.

“I am being driven to Nairobi at reckless speed to spend the weekend in the cells. I am happy it is finally over. It has been two years of hell; being arrested and released, writing countless statements, being prosecuted in the media, intimidation, and harassment to me and family,” Rigathi had said after his arrest.

Some of Rigathi’s bank accounts were frozen to allow the police to investigate the source of the Sh12.5 billion that flowed through the accounts. He was suspected of using proxies to fraudulently secure tenders through 22 companies, with himself as the sole beneficiary.

Rigathi had maintained he was innocent and has severally fingered the DCI for being used to settle political scores.