Ruto is said to have insisted that he can only record a statement with DCI George Kinoti. Photo/FILE-CFM.
NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 26 – The investigations on Deputy President William Ruto’s assassination claim may not progress to its logical conclusion, due to his failure to record a formal statement with detectives.
Three days after he reportedly made a verbal complaint through State House, that some top officials comprising Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries were plotting to eliminate him, he is yet to make a formal statement with police, sources say.
“He has not recorded any statement with us,” one senior officer at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Headquarters in Nairobi told Capital FM News on Wednesday morning.
“Without the complainant’s statement, it is difficult to undertake an investigation,” he added.
Ruto is understood to be adamant to record a statement with any other DCI officer, insisting that he can only do so before DCI Director George Kinoti.
But Kinoti, when contacted said, he has confidence in the Investigating Officer, who will record statements from all those mentioned in the alleged plot, and also speak to the complainant.
Michael Sang, who heads the Economic Crimes Unit is handling the matter, and is the one who summoned the more than 30 officials who attended a meeting at La Mada hotel in Nairobi in mid May, where Ruto claims they discussed his elimination.
But when they presented themselves at the DCI Headquarters on Monday, the officials led by Cabinet Secretaries Peter Munya (Trade), Sicily Kariuki (Health) and Joe Mucheru (ICT) denied the allegations, and insisted they can only record statement with the police once the complainant files his.
“The officers have confirmed to us that the DP made a call and complained that some CSs and other senior government officials have been meeting at La Mada Hotel, and specifically on 14 May, to plan how to kill him,” Munya said, “These are indeed very serious allegations and that is why we want him to write a formal statement to enable us respond.”
Ruto’s Spokesman David Mugonyi has declined to be drawn into discussions on whether or not the Deputy President will record a statement with the police over the alleged assassination plot.
Capital FM News has confirmed that no official has recorded a statement with the police so far.
“I think it is irresponsible, unfair and is intended to portray us in a very bad light so that we look like criminals who meet to plot criminal activities against him and it is also intended to injure our reputations as law abiding citizens of this country,” he told journalists, “we will only record a statement once a formal complaint is filed.”
And amid the investigations, Munya has vowed that the meetings at La Mada will continue, insisting they are meant to accelerate development in Central Kenya.
“We will continue meeting, we will not be intimidated by these claims,” he said.
Ruto’s assassination claim appear to have fueled the discord in the ruling Jubilee Party, as Western Kenya and a section of MPs from Central loyal to the Deputy President joined the fray for the ouster of the party’s Secretary General Raphael Tuju.
This comes as another faction of the amorphous Tanga Tanga faction met on Tuesday for the better part of the day to strategize the removal of Tuju, who has been accused of sabotaging Ruto’s 2022 chances of succeeding President Uhuru Kenyatta who is serving his second and final term.
Capital FM News understands, the meeting which mainly comprised Rift Valley leaders, was so heated that members expressed their displeasure towards the conduct of Tuju, who was recently caught up in a leaked audio conversation that was widely shared on social media plotting the removal of DP Ruto from the party.
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