NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 2 — Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has described the claims by Deputy President William Ruto and his allies that the chiefs were being used by the State to bungle the elections as “ridiculous”.
Matiangi who has openly backed Ruto’s chief opponent, Azimio’s Raila Odinga, said his meetings with grassroot administration officials were purely because “they are colleagues”.
Matiangi spoke Tuesday amid criticism from politicians mainly allied to Ruto’s camp who have accused him of using chiefs to the advantage of the Azimio presidential candidate.
The CS vowed to continue calling chiefs and working with them until he leaves office.
“We meet chiefs all the time, that is the job we do, that is who we are supposed to work with,” he said.
The Interior CS said the claims being made by a section of political leaders of a plot by the State to influence election results are all “lies” saying Kenyans can differentiate the truth from lies.
Matiangi spoke after a meeting with senior security officials drawn from the Rift Valley region in Molo where he revealed plans to scale up the presence of the dreaded anti-riot GSU police in the region where Ruto’s enjoys significant support.
He reported the arrest of eight individuals linked to inciteful leaflets circulated in Eldoret without commenting on the status of an investigation into the matter or the likelihood of pressing charges.
“Even the claims that you heard yesterday that the leaflets were authored by people from the Office of the President, now we have eight suspects in police custody and none of them is an employee of the office of the President,” he said.
The Interior CS said security agencies do not anticipate a challenge as insinuated by some politicians.
“I am confident because I have faith in the citizens of this country, we are going to have a peaceful election,” he said.
Matiangi’s response came a day after DP Ruto accused top officials in the Office of the President of fomenting chaos in Eldoret and the larger Uasin Gishu in the Rift Valley region following the emergence of leaflets bearing inciting messages.
The Deputy President who reiterated his commitment to peaceful elections on August 9 said President Uhuru Kenyatta needed to rein in officials in the Ministry of Interior to avert an escalation that could plunge the country into chaos.
Speaking during a Kenya Kwanza rally in Eldoret, DP Ruto urged the police officers to only focus on their constitutional mandate and steer clear of politics.
“You will not take us back. That dream of wanting to cause violence among our people will not succeed. We will not allow our people to fight because of politics,” he said.
“We have decided to be one people and one Nation even after the outcome of the August 9 polls. We will never again shed blood because of politics.”
Ruto’s claims were echoed by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ex-speechwriter Eric Ngeno who alleged a State-backed scheme to destabilize Rift Valley following the emergence of leaflets containing inciteful messages in Eldoret.
Ngeno, who served as State House’s Senior Director for Messaging between May 2013 and June 2022, was reacting to reports by Interior Cabinet Secretary Karanja Kibicho who went public about the existence of the leaflets on Sunday.
“Your clever antics are going to earn you a date with the Chief Prosecutor of International Criminal Court. That’s OK if that’s what you want. But if that happens, you will also have returned Mr Uhuru Kenyatta to the dock as the First Accused. I hope you have THOUGHT about that,” Ngeno said.
