NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 24 — Deputy President William Ruto has told off DCI chief George Kinoti over what he described as attempts to sabotage elections in the ongoing spat over the confiscation of election materials.
Ruto said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was fond of making dramatic statements despite little evidence to sustain his allegations in court, something he noted had led to the collapse of multiple cases handled by the agency.
Speaking Sunday during the Kenya Kwanza Alliance campaign rally in Kericho, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate asked Kinoti to stop meddling with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
He said Kinoti has “no business whatsoever in issues to deal with elections.”
“We want to tell this guy who is fond of theatrics going by the name Kinoti to stop the nonsense. He is a complete failure who dramatizes cases through media reports only for him to fail in court,” he said.
Ruto dismissed Kinoti’s “kilometer-long” press statement issued on Sunday as a scheme to attract media attention on an investigation that lacks substance.
He warned Kinoti to keep off the August 9 General Election saying the DCI boss should not “transfer his failure to the electoral agency” as it readies itself to conduct the nationwide election slated for August 9.
“We want to ask Kinoti to allow the IEBC officials to carry out their election duties. He (Kinoti) was given the duty of conducting criminal investigations, but he has never done anything. He has done all the investigations brought before him through newspapers. When asked to deliver evidence in court, he has failed,” he said.
The Kenya Kwanza Presidential flagbearer asked the DCI Chief to instead “ready himself to go home” after the polls over his failure while in charge of the National Police Service investigating arm.
He described the recent actions by Kinoti as “irritating and idiotic.”
Ruto appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to ensure that the country has a free, fair, and credible election by allowing Kenyans to practice their democratic right without any interference.
Ruto said that the Head of State has a constitutional duty to ensure Kenyans take part in the exercise without “State Interference” irrespective of his personal political leanings.
“You have two weeks as the President of Kenya. Please we want to ask you not to allow the security agencies, people who have sinister motives, to intimidate or blackmail the IEBC or to undermine the elections of August 9,” he said.
DP Ruto asked the Head of State not to “confuse” his duty as the Chairman of Azimio Coalition Council and his role as Kenya’s President.
The Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate said the Head of State must serve all Kenyans equally in his remaining 15 days at the helm of the country’s highest office.
“You can support your project as the chairman of Azimio, but you must always remember that you have a duty to the 50 million people of Kenya to guarantee their security and security of elections so that Kenyans can make their choices in a free, fair and democratic elections,” Ruto said in reference to President Kenyatta’s backing of Azimio’s presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
“We are not asking for any favor from you, we just want you to discharge your responsibility as the president of Kenya by making sure there are no monkey games around the elections,” Ruto said.
He reiterated that the Kenya kwanza coalition has “no problem” with President Kenyatta saying he had in fact forgiven him for the wrongs he may have done against him.
