It was a scene straight out of a spy thriller, played out on the sacred grounds of Witima ACK Church in Othaya. Amidst the swirling smoke of teargas and the crack of live ammunition, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s security detail pulled off a daring evacuation that will be talked about for generations.

The chaos that erupted in Nyeri this Sunday was not just a political confrontation; it was a near-fatal security breach that forced the former second-in-command to resort to desperate measures. As "goons" and police officers allegedly laid siege to the church, Gachagua revealed that his survival—and that of his team—hinged on the quick thinking of the clergy, who offered up their own vestments and choir uniforms to disguise his bodyguards.

The "Holy" Deception

Speaking from his Wamunyoro fortress hours after the ordeal, a shaken but defiant Gachagua narrated the chilling moments when the house of prayer turned into a war zone. The plan, he claims, was an assassination attempt disguised as crowd control.

"They came for us with intent," Gachagua told the press, his eyes scanning the gathered crowd. "When we realized the police were part of the attack, we knew we had to improvise. The reverend and the choir members are the true heroes. They stripped off their robes—the very symbols of their holiness—and clothed my officers. My bodyguard walked out of that church not as a security agent, but as a priest."

This masterful deception allowed his team to slip through the police cordon unnoticed, blending in with the fleeing choir members while Gachagua was whisked away through a back fence, allegedly cut open by sympathetic locals.

• The decoy: While police focused on the main gate, a "procession" of robed figures, including the disguised bodyguards, exited through the vestry.
• The breach: Locals used farm tools to dismantle a section of the perimeter fence, creating an escape route for the VIP vehicle.
• The aftermath: Several worshippers, including women and children, were left choking on fumes as the "security" operation intensified.

A Pattern of State Aggression?

The incident has drawn sharp parallels to the darkest days of Kenya's single-party era, where the pulpit was often the only refuge for dissenters—and frequently a target for state violence. Security analysts are already questioning the rules of engagement employed in Othaya.

"Using teargas inside a church is a red line that even the most authoritarian regimes hesitate to cross," notes Nairobi-based security expert George Musamali. "If a former Deputy President cannot pray in peace in his own backyard, then the average mwananchi is sitting duck."

The Political Fallout

The "Othaya Siege" has galvanized Gachagua's Mount Kenya base. What was meant to intimidate has instead created a martyr narrative. The image of a bodyguard needing a cassock to survive a police operation paints a grim picture of the relationship between the state and its former second-in-command.

As the dust settles, the question remains: Who gave the order? Gachagua points the finger directly at the Ministry of Interior, claiming the officers were not there to keep the peace, but to silence him permanently. "They thought they could trap us," he said, "but they forgot that even in the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil."