NAIVASHA, Kenya Aug 9 – Deputy President William Ruto has dismissed an attempt by Kenyan security forces to link his Turkish ally Harun Aydin to terrorism or other criminal activities.
Ruto said the Turkish he assisted acquire Sh15 billion loan from Equity bank to set up a vaccine manufacturing plant in Uganda is a reputable businessman and accused security agencies of playing politics.
“I can not associate with a terrorist, all this is politics targeting anyone associated with me,” Ruto said at a church in Naivasha Sunday a day after the Turkish was arrested Saturday on arrival from Uganda and was being interrogated by Immigration officers and Anti Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) detectives on whether he had engaged in criminal activities.
GSU officers outside the Anti Terrorism Police Unit Headquarters in Nairobi where Harun Aydin, the Turkish in DP William Ruto’s aborted trip to Uganda was being questioned on August 7, 2021.
Ruto was stopped from travelling to Uganda with Aydin on August 2, due to lack of clearance from the President but he has protested saying he is not required to seek permission to travel having travelled without clearance for the past nine years.
He asked the government “not to use the criminal justice system to drive the country’s politics”.
The Deputy President said political differences among leaders should not result in the oppression of ordinary citizens and the derailment of government development programmes.
“Our development agenda has derailed because of political wrangles. If we had used the energy, resources and the time we have spent in fighting our perceived political enemies we would have had enough time and resources to implement the Big Four,” Ruto said Sunday
Speaking during a church service at St Joseph’s Catholic Church Karagita in Naivasha today, Dr Ruto said the criminal justice system was being abused to intimidate leaders who support him.
He said the trend had now evolved from politicians to investors, a move that threatens the country’s growth.
“They are trying to sell fear to Kenyans, that if you are friends with Ruto you are taken to court. If you are an investor known by Ruto you are taken to court,” he said.
The Deputy President said the country would have been better off had his competitors presented Kenyans with an alternative economic agenda to his bottom-up model.
He asked Kenyans not to allow politicians to take them back to tribal and divisive politics.
The Turkish was expected in court Monday, but it remained unclear what charges he will face with little information coming from the police since his arrest.
On Saturday, a senior police officer at Police Headquarters told Capital FM News news that indeed “The Turkish is under arrest and is being interrogated over criminal activities.”
He did not elaborate but another security source said security forces were particularly keen to establish how he has been entering and exiting the country due to discrepancies in his travel documents.
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