Written By Were Kelly
A Nairobi law firm has issued a strict 24-hour ultimatum to a Kenyan company on behalf of Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, demanding a public apology and retraction for allegations that he illegally acquired an apartment.
The firm has threatened to file a defamation lawsuit if the demands are not met.
The legal standoff is based on letters written by Mabeya & Company Advocates, acting for Gachagua, to Royal Importers & Exporters Limited. The dispute began when the company sent a letter to Gachagua on September 30, 2025.
In that letter, the company alleged that the ex-Deputy President had illegally taken possession of a specific apartment identified as Unit 02, on the 1st Floor of Block D, located on property known as LR No. 330/317.
The company also claimed that Gachagua had not paid the agreed price of Kenya Shillings Twenty-Five Million (Ksh 25,000,000).
In a legal response dated October 2, 2025, Gachagua’s lawyer, Mabeya N. Moses, completely denied these allegations. The lawyer stated that his client is “a stranger to this kind of arrangement” and has “at no time engaged with or transacted with your company.”
The letter further claimed that Gachagua had “never set foot at the premises” and had no knowledge of Royal Importers & Exporters Limited before receiving their allegations.
The legal letter accuses the company of making statements that were knowingly false and malicious. It described the company’s claims as “reckless with total disregard for the truth” and “factually wrong and unsubstantiated.”
According to the lawyer, these allegations have been widely shared on social media and in mainstream news, causing what he called “severe damage” to Gachagua’s reputation in his “personal, social, family, political capacity as well as in his societal standing.” The lawyer also accused the company of using bloggers to spread the claims.
Based on these points, lawyer Mabeya N. Moses stated that the company’s actions constitute defamation under Kenyan law, specifically citing the Defamation Act and Article 33(3) of the Constitution of Kenya.
On behalf of Gachagua, the law firm has presented three main demands to Royal Importers & Exporters Limited. The first is an “immediate admission of liability” to begin discussions on how much money should be paid in damages.
The second demand is for the company to issue an immediate and unconditional written retraction of the allegations. The third is to “immediately issue an appropriate apology” to the Deputy President.
Critically, both the retraction and the apology must be published in two different newspapers that circulate across the entire nation.
The company has been given twenty-four hours from the date of the letter to provide evidence that they have complied with these demands. The legal letter ends with a direct warning, stating that failure to meet the deadline will force Gachagua’s legal team to file a defamation lawsuit.
The law firm says it has instructions to seek general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, in addition to demanding that the company pay all the legal costs of the court case.
As of now, there has been no public statement from Royal Importers & Exporters Limited in response to these legal demands or the 24-hour ultimatum.
The situation places significant pressure on the company to either publicly recant its claims or prepare for a high-profile legal battle with the country’s Deputy President.
