•Kibicho said there has been no request to beef up personal security by the Kenya Kwanza team.
•He was reacting to claims by some leaders that there were plans to harm them and their families.
Image: FILE
Adequate security has been provided to all presidential candidates and their running mates, Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho has said.
Kibicho said he is not aware of any plans to harm them or their families.
“The allegations are cheap publicity stunts,” he said.
Kibicho said there has been no request to beef up personal security by the Kenya Kwanza team.
He was reacting to claims by some leaders that there were plans to harm them and their families.
He spoke Wednesday during an interview on Kameme TV and Radio.
Kibicho urged candidates who desire more security to be free and make a request and it will be considered on merit.
He urged leaders to exercise restraint in their utterances to avoid provoking tensions and negative ethnicity.
The PS said preliminary investigations reveal the recent attacks and deaths in Kapedo and Turkana were not linked to politics and next week’s election.
He said chiefs and assistant chiefs chair the location and sub-location security committees which are instrumental in ensuring grassroots peace and stability.
“Engaging them regularly is necessary and normal to know what is happening,” Kibicho said.
He said the officers have played a lead in driving government policies such as Covid-19 mitigation and vaccine campaigns, school enrolment and transitions, and Huduma Number and therefore elections are not an exception.
Kibicho defended the involvement of Cabinet Secretaries and PSs in appealing for peace and high voter turnout as a cut and paste of previous election seasons in which some of those opposed to the same played a role.
He blamed lenient court bail or bonds for the low pace of crackdown on hate mongers and ethnic inciters.
The PS said the adequate deployment of security has already been done for the next week’s polls.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris