• PS Kibicho dismissed the claims he was behind the alleged plot as baseless and useless imaginations.
• “It's unfortunate we are occupied by media talking about a figment of the imagination,” Kibicho said.
The powerful Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho yesterday launched a scathing attack on Deputy President William Ruto and the claims of a plot to assassinate him.
Kibicho said the claims that he was behind the alleged plot are baseless and useless imaginations.
“It’s unfortunate we are occupied by media talking about a figment of the imagination,” Kibicho said.
The Deputy President claimed late last month that Kibicho and MPs from Mt Kenya had been meeting to plot his assassination ahead of 2022.
The DP has yet to record a statement and the Cabinet secretaries mentioned — Peter Munya, Sicily Kariuki, James Macharia and Joe Mucheru — have refused to record statements until the DP does so.
Kibicho, while commissioning a borehole at the Shauri Moyo AP camp yesterday, said he had not received any formal complaint on the assassination claims.
“Who has complained? We should stop creating things that don’t exist. The moment we have a formal complaint we will deal with it in accordance with the law,” Kibicho said.
Itumbi in police cell
Blogger Dennis Itumbi, who worked from Harambee House Annex, is in police custody having been arrested in connection with a letter purported to have been written by a CS to the President claiming there was a plot to murder the DP.
Who has complained? We should stop creating things that don’t exist. The moment we have a formal complaint we will deal with it in accordance with the lawPS Kibicho
Itumbi, in an affidavit, claimed that he has audio and video recordings of the alleged meeting by the CSs at Hotel La Mada.
But the PS yesterday told journalists that a time had come for Kenya to focus on facts.
“We must be a country led by logic and truths. It’s unfortunate that people make conclusions even before investigations. Political interference should not be accepted,” he said.
The Star learnt yesterday that the PS had not recorded any statement with DCI George Kinoti and neither did he visit the DCI headquarters two weeks ago as had been reported.
Sections of the media claimed that the PS had recorded a statement accusing the DP of harassment.
“He neither visited nor recorded any statement against anyone,” Kinoti said.
Ruto and Kibicho have not seen eye to eye since 2013 when the DP and his close allies accused the PS of working with the ICC to ensure Ruto was jailed.
The DP, President Uhuru Kenyatta and other four Kenyans faced crimes against humanity charges at the Hague-based court.
The cases collapsed but Ruto and his supporters have continued to accuse Kibicho of working behind the scenes to block his 2022 presidential bid.
Yesterday, Kibicho insisted that the government will not be distracted by the heightened politicking that has dominated the media in the past weeks.
Growth projects
“I don’t think the bickering that we continue to see helps anybody and we should pray that citizens of this country concentrate on important things,” the PS said.
“As a Ministry, we will continue providing leadership for the implementation of national government programmes.”
He said the government has revived more than 200 of the 300 development projects that had stalled across the country.
The development has been made possible through the inter-ministerial project implementation and communication committee chaired by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i.
On the ongoing police reforms, the PS said the government has spent more than Sh60 billion since 2013 in equipping the police officers to better respond to security concerns.
“All our officers are now getting house allowance. We have put them and their families on the comprehensive medical cover as part of the government’s efforts to improve their welfare,” he said.
(edited by O. Owino)