Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua fires a gun at a shooting range in the USA. / HANDOUT
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has explained why he recently resumed shooting practice while in the United States, saying he wanted to refresh skills he acquired during military training and teach his wife basic firearm handling.
Speaking during a community engagement with Kenyans in Spokane, Washington, Gachagua said he last underwent training in weaponry and basic combat skills in 1990.
He said his stay in the US had given him an opportunity to practise shooting and refresh some of the skills he had learnt more than three decades ago.
“The last time was when I went for training in 1990 on weaponry and basic combat skills. So I’m taking time here to do some bit of weaponry, some bit of basic combat skills,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua said he had also taken his wife to the shooting range to teach her basic firearm handling and shooting skills, arguing that the worsening security situation meant people could find themselves at risk.
He told Kenyans living in Spokane that they should also learn basic skills in handling firearms and remain alert, saying increasing cases of goonisms meant anyone could become a victim.
“I am also trying to teach my wife some basics. You know, these goons can cause harm to anybody, can’t they? So I told her that is why I have taken her to the range a little bit, to learn how to shoot this way and this way, so that she can also know what to do even when she is alone. Because Kenya has deteriorated. Even you, when you come home, you should be alert,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua’s remarks come after a video of him at a shooting range in the US circulated widely on social media, showing him handling and firing a firearm.
He used the Spokane engagement to discuss broader concerns about the country’s security, governance and economy, telling Kenyans in the diaspora that many were disappointed by what he described as rising lawlessness, unconstitutional practices, conflicts of interest and economic sabotage.
“Because Kenya kumeharibika,” he said, explaining why he wanted his wife to have basic knowledge of handling a firearm.
Gachagua also told the diaspora that Kenyans abroad would have a role in rebuilding the country under a new government, saying their expertise, technology and knowledge would be needed to support development.
In a statement accompanying his engagement, Gachagua said Kenyans in the diaspora continued to make a significant contribution through remittances but were concerned about how resources were being utilised.
He said a future government would seek to tap the expertise of Kenyans living abroad to help transform the country and create opportunities for skilled Kenyans at home and abroad.
