JACKSON KIHARA'S SECRET DEAL: The Deal That Brought Out Jackson Kihara From Jail | LifeLens TV

[00:00:09]A dead governor leaves behind a billion shilling empire. A will is written.

[00:00:14]Beneficiaries are named. Widows are placed somewhere. Children are placed somewhere. Brothers, sisters, nephews.

[00:00:23]Everyone appears to have a position on the family map. And in that family map, percentages matter, names matter, bloodlines matter. Because when a wealthy man dies, inheritance is not just about property. It is about identity. It is about who belongs, who does not belong, and who has the legal right to stand before the estate and say, "I am part of this family."

[00:00:51]But years after the death of former Inerryi Governor James Anderu Gachagua, another name enters the story.

[00:01:01]Jackson Kihara, a man behind prison walls, a convict serving a 20-year jail term. And from prison, Jackson raises a claim that pulls us back into the Gachagua family estate.

[00:01:18]He speaks about documents connected to his late father's estate. He speaks of an uncle. And suddenly the question becomes bigger than his criminal case.

[00:01:30]Because before we ask whether Regati Gachagwa influenced Jackson's case, before we ask who allegedly wanted those documents, before we even ask why those documents mattered, we must first ask the most important question in this entire story.

[00:01:48]Who exactly is Jackson Kihara? Is he a son? Is he a nephew? Is he a member of the wider Gachea family? Or is this a case where public reporting, family inheritance, and courtroom claims have created a confusion that only documents can solve. And that is why in this investigation, we are not beginning with rumors. We are not beginning with political noise. We are beginning with documents.

[00:02:16]the will, the death notice, the obituary, the family tree. Because in an inheritance war, documents are not small things. They are the map. They show us who was named, who was excluded, who was recognized, and who was placed in which branch of the family. So, our paper trail begins on Monday, March 6th, 2017.

[00:02:40]This was the day the late James Anderitu Gachagwa was laid to rest at his home in Higa village near Neri County.

[00:02:49]And during such moments, one document becomes very important. The funeral program, the obituary, the public death notice.

[00:02:58]Why? Because in most African families, especially during the burial of a prominent public figure, the biography is not just a tribute. It is also a family record.

[00:03:10]It normally tells the public who the deceased was, who his parents were, who his spouses were, who his children were, and who his brothers and sisters were.

[00:03:20]In other words, it draws the first public family map. And so we asked a very simple question.

[00:03:27]When the late Ner Tukaga was buried, where did the name Jackson appear? Did Jackson appear as a son? Did he appear as a nephew? Did he appear as a brother?

[00:03:38]or did he not appear at all? And the answer from that death notice is where this investigation begins to turn because the death notice names Indere Tugwa as the father of Susan, Ken, and Jason. But when the name Jackson appears, it does not appear among the children. It appears in the list of brothers. And that small placement changes everything.

[00:03:59]Because if Jackson was listed as a brother, then we must ask, is this the same Jackson now being described as a son? or are we looking at two different Jacksons inside the same extended family? To answer that, we had to leave the claim behind and go back to the family line.

[00:04:17]When we examined the known siblings of the late James and Deritu Gachagua, the name Jackson indeed appeared among them.

[00:04:24]But this Jackson was not Jackson Kihara.

[00:04:27]His full name was Jackson Riani Gachagua. And according to public reporting, Jackson Riani Gachagua was born around 1952.

[00:04:37]That alone creates a serious problem for the current claim because the Jackson Kiara now being discussed is not a man from that generation. From the available public context, he appears to be much younger, likely in his 30s or 40s. So immediately the age gap begins to speak.

[00:04:55]One Jackson belonged to the generation of Indereu Gachagwa's brothers. The other Jackson belongs to a much younger generation. And that means we are most likely dealing with two different people. But we did not stop there because in investigations, you do not dismiss a possibility just because it looks weak. You test it. So we asked another question. Could Jackson Kihara be connected to the older Jackson? Could he be the son of Jackson Riani Gachagwa?

[00:05:27]In other words, could he be carrying the name Jackson from his father while still belonging to the wider Gachagua family?

[00:05:36]That possibility mattered and that would explain why he could speak of an uncle and a late father without necessarily meaning that Neritu himself was his biological father. So we followed that trail. We went back to public reporting on the life and death of Jackson Riani Gachaga, the brother of Rigarthi Gachagua and the late Anderitu Gachagua. And there another family list appeared. Citizen TV reported that Jackson Riirani Gachagua was survived by his wife Cecilia Wamboy and four children Joan Kirigo, Steven Gachagua, Kevin Kamani, and Emma Allison Jerry.

[00:06:16]Once again the name Jackson Kihara did not appear not as a son of Ender Gachagua not as a son of Jackson Riani Gachagua and that matters and that finding narrows the investigation because if Jackson Kihara is not named among Deratu's children and if he is not the Jackson listed as Enderitu's brother and if he is not publicly named among the children of Jackson Riani Gachagua then the question becomes even sharper.

[00:06:46]Where exactly does Jackson Kihara fit in this family tree? And there was still one possible door left open.

[00:06:55]Could Jackson Kihara have been one of Andereatuga Chagua's children born outside marriage? That question takes us directly into the will. Because if a child was not clearly visible in the funeral notice, the will should become the next place to look.

[00:07:12]And sometimes it reveals family relationships that were not publicly emphasized during burial. And that is where the investigation enters its most important stage.

[00:07:22]The late Anderu Gachagua did not appear to hide this part of his family.

[00:07:28]According to public reporting on the will, he recognized two sons born outside his marriages. And those two sons were not hidden in vague language.

[00:07:37]They were named, they were identified and they were allocated major properties including Olive Gardens Hotel in Nairobi, Vipingo Beach Resort in Kilifi and Queens Gate Service Apartments and Resort in Nairobi. Their names were Jason Karyuki and Aston Gachagua.

[00:07:56]Once again, the name Jackson Kihara did not appear.

[00:08:00]And that is a very important finding because if the will openly recognize children born outside marriage then the absence of Jackson Kihara from that category becomes difficult to ignore. It does not legally prove that he was not related to the family. But it does weaken the claim that he was one of Neritagua's recognized biological sons.

[00:08:22]At this point the investigation had tested three possible doors.

[00:08:29]Was Jackson Kihara among the publicly named children of Indereu Gachagua? No.

[00:08:36]Was he the Jackson listed as Enderitu's brother? No. Was he one of the sons born outside marriage and recognized in the will? Again, the public record points to two other names, Jason Karyuki and Aston Gachagua. But an investigation does not stop at the first closed door, especially not when the will itself was wide. Because this was a will that brought several family branches into the estate. So we went further. We asked if Jackson Kihara was not a son, could he have been a nephew? And this is where the story becomes more interesting.

[00:09:15]Inside the will, there was a reference to children of Nerituga's late brother Fred Wira and Grace Nwiraa. The will directed that a percentage of shares be given to the three children of Fred Wira and Grace Nawira. These were nephews, but unlike other beneficiaries, their individual names were not clearly listed in the public material we reviewed and that small gap became important because for the first time we had a category of beneficiaries whose names were not fully visible in the public reporting. So we asked another question.

[00:09:51]Could Jackson Kiara be one of those unnamed nephews? Could he be one of the three children of Fred Wira? But here is the problem. After combing through the publicly available documents and reports, we still did not find the name Jackson Kihara clearly listed under those nephews. Not among Deritu's legal children, not among the sons born outside marriage, not among Jackson Riani Gachagwa's children, and not clearly among the unnamed children of Fred Wira. So at this stage, the documents had taken us only so far. They had shown us where Jackson Kiara does not appear, but they had not shown us where he does appear. And when documents fail to place a person clearly inside the family tree, an investigator must change direction. So we stopped chasing only the name and we started chasing the man. Who is Jackson Kihara himself? How did a man serving a 20-year sentence at Manata Maximum Prison suddenly reenter a billion shilling family estate story?

[00:10:57]What documents did he claim to have hidden? Who exactly was this late father he was talking about if the public record does not support the idea that it was James and Doritu Gachagua? And why did he decide to appeal his sentence after nearly 7 years? That is where the investigation now turns. From the will to the prison, from the family tree to the man at the center of the storm. Walk with me. When you see a vehicle sitting on top of a tree, one thing is clear.

[00:11:26]Someone put it there.

[00:11:29]Some situations do not carry natural explanations. They do not happen by accident. They do not occur by ordinary procedure. And for us, the case of Jackson Kahara falls into that category.

[00:11:41]Here was a man serving a 20-year jail term in a maximum security prison. He had been convicted. He had appealed. And even after the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence, he later resurfaced outside the prison walls. That alone raised a serious question. How does a man serving a confirmed 20-year prison sentence walk out of prison after nearly 7 years? Was it legal? Was it procedural? Was it natural? Or did it take the intervention of powerful hands?

[00:12:14]That is the question our investigation set out to answer. And in the course of our search, one lead kept pulling us back to a major political event, the impeachment of former deputy president Rigathi Gagua. How are the two connected? To understand that, we must go back to 2024.

[00:12:34]At the height of the impeachment process, the state was looking for strong evidence against Regathi Gachagua. The political mission was clear. Weaken him, isolate him, and his political standing completely.

[00:12:47]But to do that allegations alone were not enough. They needed documents and that is where the late James and Deritu Gachagwa, former Neri governor and brother to Regathi Gachagua enters this story.

[00:13:02]According to information we reviewed while the impeachment process was still at the National Assembly stage.

[00:13:11]State House linked officials visited the home of James and Daritu Gachagwa's widow Margaret Neokabi.

[00:13:17]Their mission, according to these accounts, was to obtain evidence relating to claims that Regathi Gachagwa had siphoned money from the bank accounts of his brother James Anderu Gachagwa. While Enderitu was critically ill, they reportedly collected bank records dating back to 2017. But they did not stop there. From there, Matther MP Eric Mumbi allegedly led State House officials to another home where they met a woman whose story opened a completely different door.

[00:13:50]According to the report we obtained, this woman pleaded with the officials.

[00:13:55]She told them that her son had been unfairly sentenced to 20 years in prison and was serving that sentence at Manani Maximum Prison. Her claim was disturbing. She alleged that her son's uncle, Regatathi Gachagua, had influenced the outcome of the case by bribing the judge who presided over it.

[00:14:14]But why would there be such a conflict inside the family? Her explanation took us back to the estate of the late James and Dereu Gachagua.

[00:14:24]According to her account, when her husband died in 2016, he had jointly owned property or business interests with James and Deritu Gachagua. After his death, her son Jackson Kihara took over his late father's shares and effectively became the partner of his uncle James and Gachagua. In other words, Jackson stepped into his father's position and continued running that business jointly with James Anderu Gachagua until Anderitu's death in 2017.

[00:14:53]Then came the will. The will directed that the properties be sold, debts be paid, and the remaining proceeds distributed among the beneficiaries. But there was a dispute. Regi Gachagwa as chairman of the executives allegedly wanted the jointly owned business included as part of James and Doritu Gachagwa's estate and subjected to liquidation.

[00:15:15]Jackson Kihara objected. His argument was simple. The business did not wholly belong to James and Gachagwa. It was jointly owned. Therefore, it could not be treated as part of Ender's estate alone. But according to this account, Riati Gachagwa insisted that the business had to be included in the will.

[00:15:36]That dispute, the family believed, created the foundation for what later happened to Jackson Kihara. According to Jackson Kihara's mother, the family believed Riati Gachagwa influenced the criminal case that eventually saw Jackson sentenced to 20 years in prison.

[00:15:57]And so when state officials appeared at her home during the impeachment period, she made a plea. Help my son. She told them he had been unfairly imprisoned and that he was the family's bread winner.

[00:16:10]Then according to our information, things moved fast. On October 12th, 2024, DCI officers were allegedly sent to Manani Maximum Prison.

[00:16:24]Their mission was to meet Jackson Kihara Gachucha and there according to the account we reviewed a deal was struck.

[00:16:32]But our investigation did not stop there.

[00:16:36]Once we obtained this information our next task was to establish Jackson Kihara's family links. Who was he? Which branch of the Gachagua family did he belong to? Because of our prison contacts, we asked one of our sources at Manani Maximum Prison to help us identify the people who normally visited Jackson Kihara. The objective was simple. Compare the prison visitor names with names appearing in the obituary and the will of James and Derek Gachagwa.

[00:17:04]We were given four names. These were individuals who reportedly visited Jackson Kihara once or twice a month.

[00:17:12]But when we cross-cheed those names, one stood out clearly. Grace Nawera.

[00:17:17]According to our source, Grace Nawera did not just visit occasionally. She visited Jackson Kihara repeatedly.

[00:17:24]Sometimes we were told even several times in a single week. And that pattern caught our attention because that is not the behavior of a distant relative. That is the behavior of a mother.

[00:17:36]We then traced the name Grace Newera in the public family records. Her name appeared first in the obituary of James Anderu Gachagua.

[00:17:48]In that obituary, she was listed among the siblings connected to James Anderu Gachagwa. She appeared together with her husband listed as the late Dr. Fred Wera and Mrs. Grace Nawera.

[00:18:02]In that will 4% of Indoritu's properties were allocated to the three children of Fred Wera and Grace Nawera.

[00:18:11]That connection became significant because it placed Grace Nawera, Fred Wera and their children within the inner family structure of the late James and Doritu Gachagua.

[00:18:22]And from the information we reviewed, Jackson Kihara appears to be the son of the late Fred Wira who was a brother to James and Duritu Gachagua and a sibling to Riati Gachagua. So when Jackson Kihara stood at the Milimmani law courts and spoke about his late father, he was not referring to James and Dorito Gachagua. He was referring to his biological father.

[00:18:48]And when he spoke about his uncle, he was referring to Jeffrey Rigy Gachagwa.

[00:18:54]That is the line where the documents, the family references, and the prison trail appear to meet. But from the evidence available, one thing is clear.

[00:19:03]The story being told in public that Jackson Kihara is the biological son of the late James and Eritu Gachagwa is not supported by the strongest documents we reviewed. And the deeper we followed the paper trail, the more the story shifted.

[00:19:19]That is the end of our investigation for today.

[00:19:23]Until next time, keep your eyes open.

[00:19:26]This is LifeLens TV.