Deputy President William Ruto is yet to record a statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations 24 days since claims of a plot to assassinate him became public.
Multiple sources in his office say Ruto reasoned that the DCI should have opened the investigations since the allegations were grave and about an attempt on the life on a sitting DP.
On June 24, three CSs Peter Munya (Industrialisation), Sicily Kariuki (Health) and Joe Mucheru (ICT) among other top government officials from Mt Kenya region were summoned to DCI headquarters to record statements over claims that they planned to eliminate Ruto.
However, they could not record their statements, arguing that Ruto had not formally recorded his complaint against them.
"They (DCI) have confirmed to us that DP Ruto made a call and complained that some CSs together with other senior government officers have been meeting at La Mada. So we told them if they authenticate the letter, and they find it is genuine and therefore it requires our response, we are ready to do so at any time," Munya said on their behalf.
He added: "The DP has not recorded any statement. Standard procedure is that if someone makes an allegation of that nature then that person is required by law to record a statement."
Two weeks ago, Dennis Itumbi, the director of Digital Communication in the Office the President was arrested over links to assassination letter against the DP. Since then, the DCI is yet to update the country on the progress in the investigations.
Itumbi, who has been reporting at Muthaiga police station every two days, will be in court this morning for the mention of the case in which DP allies accuse DCI of playing politics by going for the author of the letter instead of the planners.
Ruto, who is said to have a large support base in Mt Kenya region, is positioning himself to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022. But some individuals in the area are opposed to a deal in which the two Jubilee leaders pledged to support each other between 2013 and 2033 have been pushing Uhuru to change his mind.
Ruto's communications secretary David Mugonyi did not find it logical for his boss to be required to record a statement with the police over the assassination plot claim.
“The best people to tell us if the Deputy President is supposed to record a statement are the police. Find out from them,” he said.
Justice and Legal Affairs chairman in the National Assembly William Cheptumo agrees that it is for the police to take the initiative to investigate the matter.
“This is a serious matter that DCI should not even wait for a complaint. Police have thwarted crimes and terror attacks relying on security intelligence. An alleged crime directed at an individual is serious and if you talk of a person of the DP, it is so serious that it should automatically draw the attention of DCI,” he told the Star by phone.
“A threat to the President, the Deputy President is a security threat to the nation. The plot to kill the DP is a serious allegation, not like the case of pickpocket and therefore the DCI should not wait for Ruto to record a statement. Supposing it had happened, who will record a statement?” Cheptumo asked.
Kimililli MP Didmus Barasa said DCI officers should stop concentrating on the letter and instead focus on individuals who have admitted that they met at La Mada.
“Instead of DCI investigating individuals who talked ill of the Deputy President, they are now focusing on the letter. We want these individuals to be questioned and arraigned in court,” Barasa said.
His Belgut counterpart Nelson Koech concurs with Nyandarua Woman Representative Faith Gitau that “DCI should not play games with the threat on the DP”.
He said the issue does not need a formal complaint as the Republic of Kenya is the complainant. "Where there are such grave allegations to an extent that it’s on an attempt on the life of sitting Deputy President, the state should proceed to probe the issue without compelling the DP to record a statement.”
Gitau had noted: “It was clear that the meetings had nothing to do with development but succession politics. In any case, those who have been attending the meetings have agreed there was a meeting at the hotel and no agenda was circulated. The leaders from the region including MCAs, MPs, governors and senators were not involved.”
She asked: “Why were they meeting in the basement of a hotel? There are reports those attending were under instructions to switch off phones and threatened with dire consequences should they share out the content of the meeting.”
Kirinyaga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici said the investigations should Centre on the meeting and the contents of the letter calling on the DCI to stop sideshows.
