Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala plans to sue Interior CS Fred Matiang'i and Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai for wrongful arrest and detention.
He said he had reliable information Matiang'i and Mutyambai were behind his arrest. Malala did not specify when he was likely to sue them but noted he will be advised by his legal team.
The Senate Deputy Minority Leader was arrested by CID officers in Kisumu on Friday. He spoke on Sunday after being freed unconditionally from Kisumu central police station.
His lawyer Charles Malala on Monday hinted they were heading to court in the afternoon.
The senator condemned police for lobbing tear gas inside the police cell on Sunday night. “I am very shocked that the police threw tear gas in a cell where suspects are being held. Women and children who are there suffered,” Malala said.
His supporters clashed with police officers at Kisumu central police station demanding his release. The supporters scampered for safety after tear gas was lobbed at them.
He said he and other suspects poured water into the women's cell to enable them wash their faces.
Malala said he was not told why he was arrested noting that it was an act of intimidation. "The arrest is purely political. The plan was to arrest two people from the Tangatanga team and handshake side."
Former Sports CS Rashid Echesa, Matungu MP Justus Murunga and an MCA were also arrested over their alleged link to Matungu killings.
The senator said he was denied food and medication and his bodyguard could not reach him. However the aide was allowed into the cell to resuscitate him late in the night on Saturday.
"I was suffocated in a small room without proper ventilation. This made me collapse and I remained unconscious for four hours," he said.
Malala criticised the manner in which he was arrested saying he was frustrated, harassed and kicked by police officers.
“I want to tell the people who were involved in arresting me that we shall sue them individually," Malala said.
He told Matiang'i to take the security of the country seriously and stop political arrests without tangible evidence. "He has become a socialite playing public relations with security. National security is not a joke. Stop playing with the security of this country," Malala said.
He stated that he shall not be intimidated. “Innocent Kenyans are being killed in Matungu, families languishing in pain while Matiang'i is playing cosmetics by arresting politicians so that he can be seen to be working," Malala said
He told Matinag'i to go back to Matungu and conduct proper investigation, noting that the families of those who have been murdered are suffering and need justice.
Malala warned the CS that justice cannot be achieved by intimidating leaders. He noted that he was the only leader from Western who had tabled the killings in Parliament.
Malala said there were several challenges in Matungu and accused police officers of laxity.
He said they were only concentrating on illicit brewers and collecting bribes instead of protecting citizens. The CS, he said, has become incompetent and should leave the office.
Intervention by Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o on Saturday saw Malala moved to a spacious room.
A doctor from Aga Khan Hospital was brought to attend to him. "I want that doctor to write a medical report because if the officers can do this to an elected leader then what of ordinary Kenyans?" Malala said.
He wondered why he was arrested on Friday and then released on Sunday unconditionally.
"I am perturbed that i have been accused of murdering 18 people in Matungu. These accusations are very weighty. Why do you arrest someone without sufficient evidence?" Malala said.