Kenya’s former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has dropped bombshell allegations over a fertilizer scandal that has left farmers reeling and public trust in the government shaken. At the center is Narendra Raval, the influential CEO of Devki Group, a company with deep ties in the cement and steel industries.
Gachagua claims that under Raval’s watch, Devki played a key role in turning a Russian donation of fertilizer into a cash cow for politically connected individuals.
According to Gachagua, the fertilizer was a goodwill gesture from Russia to support Kenyan farmers during a tough planting season. Instead of being distributed freely to the farmers who needed it most, the fertilizer was allegedly diverted, repackaged, and sold to the government at full price.
Devki, alongside Maisha Millers, is said to have led this scheme profiting off a donation while farmers were left empty-handed.
Gachagua describes it as a calculated betrayal of public trust, where a humanitarian gift was twisted into a commercial opportunity by a few at the top.
Even more alarming are claims that the fertilizer Devki supplied was not only overpriced but dangerously fake. Farmers across the North Rift and Western Kenya have reported poor crop yields after using what turned out to be substandard or adulterated fertilizer.
Many say what they received was mixed with sand or useless chemicals. Crops withered, harvests failed, and livelihoods were destroyed, all while companies linked to Raval allegedly pocketed millions.
Narendra Raval, a man known for his close ties to top state officials, is being increasingly mentioned in hushed tones as the face behind the scandal.
Though he has not made any public statements addressing the allegations, Gachagua insists Raval and his company could not have operated with such impunity without the protection of powerful friends in government.
The former deputy president has gone as far as suggesting that President William Ruto and other senior figures were aware of the fake fertilizer and allowed it to circulate, brushing off early warnings and downplaying the extent of the problem.
When still in office, Gachagua had mentioned that around 50,000 bags of fake fertilizer had entered the market, calling it a minor issue.
Now, out of power, he’s painting a very different picture one of a coordinated scheme involving top government officials and their favored business partners, with Raval and Devki right at the center.
The inconsistency raises serious questions about who knew what and when.The fallout from the scandal has been severe. Farmers who trusted the state now feel betrayed, and many say they won’t rely on government-distributed farm inputs again.
Investigations have been launched, and some officials from the National Cereals and Produce Board and Kenya Bureau of Standards have already been suspended.
But there’s little faith among the public that the real architects of the fraud especially wealthy tycoons like Raval will face justice.
Kenyans are left wondering whether this is just another case of corruption swept under the rug or the beginning of a reckoning for those who exploited public resources while millions go hungry.
