NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 — The conspicuous absence of the once-powerful Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi seen as the country’s de facto deputy leader has stirred a public debate after it emerged the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had ordered to be furnished with his travel history.
Records provided by the Immigration Department indicated Matiangi left the country on February 19 but no further details were provided.
The DCI probe continued even as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) initiated a probe that could render the former CS a fugitive.
Miguna Miguna, an opposition activist he once deported and denied reentry back to the country, emerged saying Matiangi had fled the country on a cargo plane.
He claimed the Cabinet Secretary who is facing multiple charges ranging from corruption to misinformation was concealed in freshly cut flowers headed out to the export market.
“Fred Okeng’o Matiang’i who blew up my house with bombs, forced me into exile twice once after SEDATING me and BLOCKED me from returning at the behest of conman (sic) Raila Odinga and [despot] Uhuru Kenyatta FLED into exile aboard a CARGO KLM plane on February 19, 2023. The irony of life!” Miguna charged on Twitter.
“Matiang’i FLED Kenya in the middle of the night wrapped was Fresh Cut Flowers from Kenya for export. Let me take this in SLOWLY!” he claimed.
Ruaraka land scandal
The former CS became a person of interest to security agencies after he staged a raid at his Karen him claiming persecution by the State.
While denying the alleged raid on February 9, agencies said they had not initiated any attempts to arrest or interrogate Matiangi but confirmed an ongoing investigation.
On Tuesday, a letter emerged indicating the EACC had asked to be furnished with certified copies of Matingi’s wealth records for a period covering 2012 to 2022.
The CS has faced scrutiny over a Sh1.5 billion payout in compensation for a 17.7 acre parcel in Nairobi’s Ruaraka. The payment was flagged as irregular after it emerged the land in questioned belonged to the public.
Miguna who returned back to Kenya on October 20, 2022, after President William Ruto authorized the printing of his passport to replace an initial one defaced by the police has been rooting for Matiangi’s prosecution.
Miguna-Matiangi rivalry
Matiangi’s role in the deportation of Miguna contrary to express orders of the court saw him held in contempt alongside two other State officials in 2018.
In 2018, Matiangi was fined Sh200,000 which was to be deducted from his salary.
Justice George Odunga found the CS to have disdained court orders requiring the State to produce Miguna in court and further declined to honour summonses issued against him.
Matiangi was also accused of stonewalling court orders to facilitate Miguna’s return after he insisted that the self-declared General of the National Resistance Movement had lost his Kenyan citizenship.
The ministry stated that for Miguna to regain his lost citizenship, he would have to tender a formal request for the same so that he could duly be recognized as a dual citizen under the 2010 Constitution.
Miguna was deported after installing Odinga as the People’s President to protest President Uhuru Kenyatta’s “irregular” re-election.
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