BBS Mall owners seek NCIC action over Gachagua remarks, cite ethnic contempt

In a detailed letter addressed to NCIC Chairperson Dr Samuel Kobia, the mall’s proprietors, through MMA Advocates, accuse Gachagua of making inflammatory and defamatory statements during a church service held on 4 January 2026 at AIPCA Kiratina Church in Githunguri, Kiambu County. 

According to the complaint, Gachagua alleged that funds stolen from a fraud scheme in Minnesota, United States, were funnelled into Kenya, invested in properties in Eastleigh, and used to construct a shopping mall.

He further suggested that the alleged beneficiaries were linked to senior political figures and called on former US President Donald Trump to bypass extradition procedures and forcibly arrest the individuals in Kenya.

Although Gachagua did not expressly name BBS Mall, the owners argue that any ordinary listener would reasonably understand the remarks as referring to their property, given its prominence and location in Eastleigh.

They contend that the statements, made without evidence or due process, have gravely damaged the mall’s reputation and commercial standing.

“Our clients do not object to public discussion of crime or matters of public concern,” the advocates state in the letter. “Their complaint is confined to the manner, framing, and foreseeable effect of the remarks, which invite conclusions of collective ethnic and commercial culpability.”

The letter asserts that repeated references to Eastleigh amounted to a “thinly veiled attribution of criminality” to the Somali ethnic community and Somali-owned businesses, contrary to the Constitution and the National Cohesion and Integration Act.

The mall owners cite Articles 27, 28, and 33 of the Constitution, which protect equality, dignity, and prohibit hate speech, as well as Section 13 of the NCIC Act, which criminalises speech intended to stir ethnic hatred.

The BBS mall proprietors warn that the remarks threaten relationships with tenants, banks, insurers, employees, and regulators, with the harm aggravated by Gachagua’s stature as a former holder of high constitutional office.

They are now demanding that NCIC promptly investigate the remarks in full context, make a formal determination on whether they constitute ethnic contempt or hate speech, issue appropriate censure, and refer the matter for prosecution where the legal threshold is met.

They have also urged the Commission to caution media houses against uncritical amplification of statements deemed divisive or capable of inciting ethnic animosity.

“This demand is made in the public interest,” the letter states, adding that any failure or delay by the Commission would raise concerns about the effective discharge of its constitutional and statutory mandate.