Pro-Gakuyo Demos Paralyse Thika Town, Accuse KTN Of Meddling Into Kiambu Politics.

A section of the demonstrators along Kenyatta Highway just outside the Thika Police Station, holding banners and chanting praises in support of Rev. Gakuyo. They demonstrated across the streetsof Thika Town, paralysing business for more than one and a half hours.

Business in Thika Town was temporarily paralysed after a section of Gakuyo Real Estate/ Ekeza Sacco workers and investors staged a demonstration protesting what they referred to as ‘political attacks’ on the two institutions.

Unsuspecting traders hurriedly closed shop, pedestrians watched from a safe distance as some motorists swerved their motor vehicles and sped away from the oncoming crowd of demonstrators for fear of any form of attack. However, the demonstrators, though generally very noisy, were rather very peaceful with no ugly incident reported. Police, both uniformed and in plainclothes kept vigil from a distance ready to pounce just in case the demos turned ugly.

While holding placards and banners, the demonstrators walked around the town streets chanting in support of Rev. Dr. David Kariuki Ngare (Gakuyo) whom they claimed was being targeted by his political rivals for his resolve to vie for Kiambu gubernatorial seat.

“‘We stand with Dr. Gakuyo. Stop crippling his business for political gain.’ ‘We the investors stand with Dr. Gakuyo!’ ‘Media stop being biased, investigate Hotel 300’” were some of the messages contained in the placards.

Zayuni Mbugua Ndirangu from Ruiru, who claims to have invested in the two institutions castigated a section of the media for stooping too low by allowing themselves to be used by politicians to settle political scores.

“I now giving Dennis (Onsarigo) and The Standard Media Group a one week ultimatum to apologise to (Dr.) Gakuyo else I will personally lead the residents of Kiambu to stage in a protest demo outside their offices. I will also summon an attorney to lodge a complaint in court against them for defamation and character assassination,” said Zayuni.  

He appealed to Rev. Gakuyo to stand firm and have no scruples about his decision to vie for the leadership of Kiambu County as they were ready to go to any length to fight down the negative political storm directed towards the man of the cloth.

He dismissed those alleging that the two firms were a scam adding that more than 5,000 people who are still investing in them cannot all be wrong.

“We have nothing to worry about our investments (in Gakuyo Real Estate and Ekeza Sacco). Every day, people are being taken to view the properties they have invested in. If at all there was anything amiss with the two firms, signs would have been all over the place for us to see. Those we saw on TV yesterday must have been hired to soil the name of Dr. Gakuyo,” he said.

Fredrick Karuri, a driver at Gakuyo Real Estate dismissed as a fraud, the lady who purported to be an employee of the firm. He termed her as a fraudster who had been hired to accomplish a certain evil political mission.

“If at all she is one of us, how comes none of us knows her. That’s an imposter who is being used to execute someone’s evil political mission. It pains me so much to see a person stooping that low to ruin someone’s investment without considering that this is a source of livelihood to more than 2,000 families,” said Karuri.

Agnes Muchemi, a real estate consultant and a brain behind the success of Ekeza Sacco, said by the time she left the company recently, it was in stable condition and that no investor should have cause to worry.

“For the last 19 years, Gakuyo Real Estate and Ekeza Sacco has transformed so many lives. I am a single mother and I can confess that whatever I own today is courtesy to these two companies. Let no one ruin the lives of the meek who, were it not for such investment plans, would have languished in poverty with nothing to call their own,” said Salome Wambui, an investor with the two institutions.