Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua told a gathering of clergy in Boston that the late Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo had been used to move and store money on behalf of President William Ruto.

Gachagua said Chivayo was holding more than KSh1.5 trillion for the president at the time of the helicopter crash that killed Chivayo, his wife and four others.

He described Chivayo as a “crook” who received dollars, landed at a private airstrip and kept the cash for Ruto, characterising the arrangement as money‑laundering.

Gachagua also linked Chivayo to a purported scheme to influence Kenya’s 2027 General Election, alleging the businessman was to act as a local agent for a South Korean technology firm involved in election‑related tenders.

No documentary evidence was presented to substantiate the financial or election‑interference claims, and Citizen Digital was unable to verify them independently.

Chivayo’s death was confirmed by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa after a helicopter crashed in the Marondera Rural area east of Harare, with investigators citing a fuel spill and subsequent fire as preliminary findings.

President Ruto and his representatives had not publicly responded to Gachagua’s allegations at the time of publication.