CID Director Ndegwa Muhoro said: “My office is a public office, and as you all know, corruption fights back. I have never abetted corruption for the period I have served as CID director.”
NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 14 – Former Coast Provincial Police chief King’ori Mwangi who is among nine candidates being interviewed to become Kenya’s first deputy Inspector General had a difficult time on Wednesday explaining allegations of murder and high-handedness.
The Johnston Kavuludi-led commission told Mwangi that it had received a number of petitions from civil society organisations and individual police officers, questioning his integrity.
Of much concern were allegations of murder raised by controversial human rights activist Okiya Omtatah that Mwangi murdered two people while serving as Provincial Police Officer (PPO) in Mombasa and that he had been protecting drug traffickers.
“Omtatah and these civil society orgnanisations have been fed with wrong information, this is all innuendo,” Mwangi said, and added that “Omtatah is too obsessed with me; he has raised these allegations severally (sic) and even wrote a letter to police headquarters, I have never killed any person in my life.”
“I have worked in Mombasa and I know there are two kinds of politics there. Kuna siasa ya ushoga na siasa za unga (gay politics and drugs). I was not in any of them,” Mwangi said.
He even narrated to the commission an instance when he was once attacked and shot at by a gunman in South B while serving as PPO Nairobi, but he managed to disarm the gunman.
“That is the kind of a person I am when it comes to handling firearms. I did not shoot back at this person instead I disarmed him and we arrested him, I am not the kind of person who goes around shooting at people just like that,” Mwangi said.
On claims of protecting drug traffickers, the police chief who is currently based at the reforms department of police headquarters said he was tough on criminals and traffickers in Mombasa and that is why they resorted to hurl such allegations against him.
Omtatah claims in his damning dossier that Mwangi had been intimidating junior police officers investigating drug trafficking in Mombasa for his own benefit.
“I have worked in Mombasa and I know there are two kinds of politics there. Kuna siasa ya ushoga na siasa za unga (gay politics and drugs). I was not in any of them,” Mwangi said.
Another petitioner, a junior police officer, wrote to the commission saying Mwangi had accumulated immense wealth in his service in the police and had been harassing them, allegations he denied.
“I know some have even said I own a beach hotel, prime buildings in the coast and a fleet of trucks, I want to categorically state that I do not own even a kiosk or a single taxi anywhere in Kenya,” he said.
He told the commission that there was a misconception particularly in the coast because of a businessman who is called King’ori and owns buildings which people always thought belonged to the PPO.
“I have always heard this allegations. I even called that businessman and asked him why he goes around telling people that I am the owner of his buildings, and he told me that it is people who were saying it,” Mwangi said “I don’t have a patent for the name King’ori.”
Mwangi also denied allegations raised against him that crime was at its peak when he served as Provincial Police chief in Nairobi.
A police officer sacked from Mombasa also wrote to the commission, saying he is ready to testify on how Mwangi allegedly collected bribes from junior traffic police officers, an allegation the police chief dismissed and explained that the officer had made the claims because he thought he had instigated his sacking over a drug trafficking-related case.
He was also put on the spot over the Sh6.5 billion cocaine haul and murder of Erastus Chemorei, a General Service Unit officer killed in Kitale.
“I have nothing to do with those issues, the cocaine case was handled at the CID, GSU and police headquarters,” he said.
CID director Ndegwa Muhoro who is also interested in the Deputy Inspector General’s position told the commission he is best placed for the lucrative position, before he was informed of allegations raised against him by Ahmednasir, Abdikadir and Company advocates.
In a voluminous petition by the law firm, Muhoro is accused of conspiring to defeat justice on various cases, including one of a Mr Pius Ngugi late last year.
Ahmednassir said in the report that Muhoro had conspired to charge his client with trumped up charges which were later cleared by the courts.
Muhoro was asked to comment on the matter and others relating to the transfer of some junior police officers in which he defended himself that not all his decisions will please everybody: “I have been very professional throughout, and if I may mention, if you want to know the animals living downstream, you block the river from upstream.”
“My office is a public office, and as you all know, corruption fights back. I have never abetted corruption for the period I have served as CID director,” he said. “I am ready to face the people raising these issues”.
“My office is a public office, and as you all know, corruption fights back. I have never abetted corruption for the period I have served as CID director.”
The commission later informed him that he had received a clean bill of health from the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC).
Mwangi and Muhoro are among nine candidates being interviewed for the post of Deputy Inspector General in charge of regular police.
Others are Jasper Nyauma Ombati (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) who once served as the Police Spokesman, Marcela Andanje, Judy Jebet Ndeda (Railways Police), Mohammed Ibrahim Amin (CID), Stanley Cheruiyot, Dido Mamo Galgalo and Zipporah Gatiria Mboroki.
The commission will also interview nine candidates shortlisted for the post of Deputy Inspector General who will be in charge of the Administration Police.
Nine other candidates interested in the Inspector General’s post were interviewed since last week.
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