Interior CS Fred Matiang'i on Tuesday rubbished claims by DP William Ruto that some officials from the President's Office were behind circulation of hate leaflets in North Rift.
Hate leaflets have been circulated in the area. On Monday, Ruto said it was the work of state machinery to keep voters away from polling stations by instilling fear.
Speaking in Molo on Tuesday, Matiang'i said eight people so far have been arrested over the hate leaflets. He described the claims by Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza allies implicating the state as useless.
Matiang'i said Kenya is a mature democracy and people can tell "baseless claims" peddled by leaders.
"Our people have come of age, our democracy is mature and people can tell nonsense from all those claims. Even the claims you heard yesterday [Monday] that the leaflets were authored by people from the Office of the President, now we have eight suspects in police custody.
"None is an employee of the Office of the President."
The Interior CS make the comments as Ruto's North Rift allies sought to allay ears of election-related violence in the region. They urged residents to ignore hate leaflets.
DP allies led by Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi backed Ruto's claims the leaflets were the work of the state, especially the Office of the President.
The leaders who spoke at campaign meetings in the Eldoret and other towns in the region also included Nandi Governor Stephen Sang and UDA candidates for seats in North Rift.
The circulation of the leaflets sparked fear and anger among the public and elders who demand the arrest of those involved.
The inter-community elders led by John Yego said police must move swiftly and arrest hate mongers with just a few days to the polls.
In this age and era, there is no way one can do meetings to intimidate adults even if they are chiefs working for the government
Kibicho has also deployed a team of DCI officers to track down those involved in circulation of the hate leaflets around the country. They were scattered about several areas including Kesses and Cheptiret, among other villages in Uasin Gishu.
Uasin Gishu is one of the counties listed among hot spot regions where election violence is considered possible.
"We are a peaceful county and we will not allow anyone to disrupt what we have among communities in this county", Yego said.
He said they had been meeting as communities in Uasin Gishu and would still work to ensure that the elections will be peaceful.
Uasin Gishu county commissioner Stephen Kihara , meanwhile, also denied claims by some political leaders he had been holding meetings to intimidate chiefs ahead of the elections.
"," Kihara said.
Speaking during the elders' meeting of the Kikuyu community, Joseph Nyanjui urged communities to ignore the hate leaflets.
"Elections should not be a reason to cause divisions among our communities and we urge all residents to keep peace and unity," Nyanjui said.
He said police should act tough with those who sow division.
We don’t want to see anyone carrying their luggage and leaving to other regions because of unfounded fears of violence
“They can circulate as many leaflets as possible but that will not cause chaos here because we have already decided no one will divide us because of elections,” Sudi said.
They leaders urged residents to vote on Tuesday and not to leave the region for fear of violence because no one will be evicted or harassed.
“We don’t want to see anyone carrying their luggage and leaving to other regions because of unfounded fears of violence,” the MP said.
Mandago said UDA candidates have been preaching peace and unity at all meetings and there was no way communities would be incited to violence by outsiders.
He claimed the Azimio side was resorting to incitement after sensing that Kenya Kwanza was likely to win the presidential election.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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