• On Monday, Kinoti met victims of PEV who had flocked the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road to record statements.
• He said 72 murder cases, 44 land displacement cases and 118 of threats linked to the 2007-08 post-election violence had been lodged.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA
Deputy President William Ruto and his allies on Tuesday tore into DCI boss George Kinoti’s move to reopen 2007-08 PEV files and took the war to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s doorstep.
In a bold press conference by 45 MPs, Ruto lieutenants claimed Kinoti's move was part of the wider ploy to scuttle the DP’s 2022 presidential bid.
Ruto himself took on Kinoti, terming his decision “an evil attempt to resuscitate the tribe project”.
The second in command insinuated there was poor leadership in Kenya that had bread poverty and unemployment, a remark that could be interpreted as self indictment and an attack on his boss, President Kenyatta
“The provocative incitement to ethnic hate, division intended by the resurrection of PEV is an evil attempt to resuscitate the tribe project destroyed by the hustler movements' realisation that poverty and unemployment deliberately bred by poor leadership is our problem not our tribes,” Ruto tweeted.
However, in a statement Tuesday, Kinoti denied reopening the cases, clarifying the directorate was not going to open completed cases that were investigated and closed.
He said his was an acknowledgement of concerns raised by affected Kenyans to assure them of DCI's commitment to investigate all reported threats to security and sensitise the public on the need for a peaceful co-existence.
“The directorate had received complaints of fear and apprehension by members of the public who feel their lives and property are in imminent danger owing to threats,” he said.
On Monday, Kinoti met victims of PEV who had flocked DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road to record statements.
He said 72 murder cases, 44 land displacement cases and 118 of threats linked to the 2007-08 violence had been lodged.
The top detective vowed to do whatever it takes within the law to bring the perpetrators of the post-election violence to book.
“Very soon you will see the outcome of this event. We will look for them. I know they are waiting for another poll violence to occur. Let them try again. We will follow the truth, prepare all the files and say this is the person who killed this person,” he said.
The surprise move elicited sharp reactions from Ruto and his men, some of whom directly put the blame on the President.
Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, a close ally of the DP, asked why the head of state has allowed Kinoti to reopen PEV cases.
Murkomen recalled that Uhuru had told the International Criminal Court during his prosecution that his administration had started a reconciliation process.
“The President came to Parliament and announced that there was a Sh10 billion that has been put in place to ensure that all the TJRC-related issues are settled. Now we want to know the truth. Did President Uhuru Kenyatta lie to the ICC, did he lie to Parliament?” he posed.
Uhuru and Ruto were charged together at The Hague after the bloodbath that followed the controversial 2007 General Election.
However, Ruto has publicly alleged of an elaborate plot to revive his case.
In a heavily worded statement and all-out attack, the 45 MPs tore into Kinoti, accusing him of being used to shape the 2022 succession politics.
The Tangatanga brigade claimed the state, through DCI chief, was out to incite violence among communities in the DP’s Rift Valley bedrock with the aim of portraying him as violent to block him from running for President in 2022.
“There is a plan for a state instigated violence and the stage is the Rift Valley and the acts are intended for political reasons,” Murkomen said.
He added, “They want to instigate violence in the Rift Valley because it is one of the regions that has every community in the country, so that if there is violence in the country, blame it on William Ruto. Once you blame it on him, go on to what they had already announced that he won’t be on the ballot.”
Reading the statement on behalf of the legislators, Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika assailed Kinoti of being used by political power brokers to incite violence.
“The statement by Kinoti amounts to incitement and provocation of the peaceful citizens of Kenya,” Kihika said.
“It is clear that Kinoti and his masters only wish to cynically exploit the terrible traumas of PEV to anchor a diabolical and divisive political agenda…. incite communities into violent conflict…”
They said Kinoti was hell-bent on selling fear in the Rift Valley and coercing its residents into supporting their 2022 succession schemes, and that he was executing the latest ‘travesty’ on President Kenyatta’s watch.
“We ask His Excellency the President one question: What is the guarantee that we shall still have a country left, with all these evil and destructive schemes perpetrated through state offices?” she posed.
Kihika challenged the President to implement the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission Report and the recommendations of all past commissions of inquiry.
In Eldoret, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi alleged that Kinoti and state operatives were scheming to revive the PEV cases as part of a plan to undercut Ruto ahead of 2022.
He claimed that the victims who recorded statement with the DCI were coached to ‘write fake statements’ claiming they had been threatened.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah claimed the latest move was part of the wider plot to cut the DP and his allies to size so that he cannot ascend to power in 2022.
He said the ‘selective’ arrests, intimidation and removal of DP’s men from key parliamentary leadership positions were meant to beat them into submission.
“We did indicate that there were people within the state to instigate ethnic animosity and violence beginning with the Rift Valley, specifically Njoro, and we indicated there were plans to recruit people to go and instigate violence,” he said.
The vocal legislator said they would hold the DCI boss responsible should anything happen to Tangatanga leaders.
“We have information that they have planned to instigate cardiac arrest with some chemical compound that they say is untraceable. You will remember the La Mada murder incident on the planned assassination of the deputy president,” he said.