Impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua recounted the alarming moments leading to his admission at Karen Hospital on Thursday.
Gachagua stated that he had been enjoying lunch at Harambee Annex with his legal team and senior officials from the Office of the Deputy President when he suddenly fell ill.
“After lunch, we looked at possible areas of cross-examination then my team left for the Senate. I went to my office to pick my notes and then suddenly I developed very intense pain in the chest,” he said.
The deputy president explained that as the pain intensified, he contacted his long-time physician, Dr. Dan Gikonyo.
“I described to him how I was feeling and I told him it was intense. As we were speaking, I started to experience shortness of breath, and Dr. Gikonyo instructed me to drop everything I was doing and get to Karen as quickly as possible,” he elaborated.
Gachagua’s staff rushed him to Karen Hospital, where he found Dr. Gikonyo and a medical team awaiting him.
“He examined me and made a decision I must be admitted immediately for observation and treatment.
After I was stabilised, he told me that had I been late for 20 minutes, we would have been talking about something else,” Gachagua revealed.
The impeachment trial took an unexpected turn as Gachagua was unable to appear for the afternoon session where he was scheduled to testify.
Minutes after his legal team reported that they could not locate him, they announced that he had fallen ill.
His lawyer, Paul Muite, stated that Gachagua was experiencing severe chest pains.
Muite informed the Senate, “I would like to inform honourable senators that I was able to contact doctors at Karen Hospital.
There is a team of doctors who are looking after the Deputy President. Because of his condition, I was not able to talk to him directly.”
