Democracy for Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua has raised fresh concerns over the alleged existence of an illegal police unit in Hurlingham, Nairobi, accusing it of using raids, arrests and threats to target small-scale liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) traders.
Speaking during a press briefing on Wednesday, Gachagua claimed the facility, which he described as a “black site”, was established in June 2025 despite not being officially gazetted as a police station. He alleged that it has been operating with officers of different ranks, an armoury and its own budget.
“This police station is not gazetted,” Gachagua said.
According to the former Deputy President, the facility is allegedly supervised by a private citizen identified as Cleve Mutiso. He accused Mutiso of taking part in inspections of LPG businesses while “brandishing firearms and threatening small-scale traders”.
Gachagua claimed the alleged unit carried out a series of operations against LPG retailers in Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado and Machakos between June and October 2025.
He said officers involved in the operations used private vehicles and lorries to conduct raids and allegedly removed more than 200,000 gas cylinders belonging to traders.
“They took away with them over 200,000 gas cylinders,” Gachagua said.
He questioned the manner in which the seizures were handled, claiming traders were not given proper documentation to account for the goods taken during the operations.
According to Gachagua, “no single inventory was done, no OB entry was recorded, and nobody was taken to court”.
“Where are these 200,000 gas cylinders?” he asked.
Gachagua also questioned the authority under which the alleged operations were conducted, arguing that they went against the regulatory system governing the LPG trade.
He said the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) had already established itself as the sole enforcement agency responsible for LPG matters.
Gachagua referred to an EPRA letter dated March 10, 2025, which he said made it clear that the authority was the sole enforcement agency in the sector.
He further alleged that similar raids were carried out in other parts of the country, including the North Rift, Nyanza and Western regions.
In those operations, he claimed, gas cylinders and vehicles were seized before being taken to Kakamega Police Station.
Gachagua also cited an October 2025 communication from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which he said raised concerns over one of the operations.
He claimed the communication found the operation improper because it had been carried out without notifying EPRA.
The party leader said small-scale LPG dealers were not against government regulation and were willing to operate within the law.
However, he said the traders were concerned about what he described as “harassment, arbitrary arrest, illegal seizure of gas cylinders, and extortion”.
Gachagua called for the immediate closure of the Hurlingham facility and demanded investigations into the police officers and other individuals he accused of taking part in the alleged operations.
He also called for all cylinders taken from traders to be returned and for those affected by the alleged raids to be compensated.
“That the inhuman treatment and physical asset of small-scale traders by this vigilante group be stopped immediately,” Gachagua said, as he called for the “black site” in Hurlingham to be closed.
His remarks came amid his criticism of what he described as increasing pressure on small-scale LPG traders, with Gachagua insisting that enforcement in the sector must be carried out within the law and that the existing regulatory framework should be followed “to the letter”.