Chairman of the Raila Odinga campaign team Makau Mutua has dismissed remarks by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that governors should not be interrogated by junior police officers.
Mutua says governors and other senior state officers are not above the law and assertions that they should not be questioned by junior detectives is shocking.
"Mr Gachagua’s remarks about the DCI are shocking. Governors and senior state officers aren’t above the law, and any qualified detective or police officer should investigate or arrest them for cause," Mutua said.
Gachagua on Thursday said governors and other elected leaders will be treated with dignity under the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The DP told DCI officers to stay put at their headquarters and wait for cases to be reported to them.
He said it's demeaning to send junior police officers of the rank of corporal or constable to interrogate sitting governors.
"When you embarrass an elected leader in front of his juniors, and you go away, how do you expect him to perform the following day?" he asked.
"If you want you must look at the various levels in the security sectors, we engage at that level so that there is dignity and decorum," he added.
Gachagua spoke during the induction of governors and deputy governors at Pride Inn Hotel in Mombasa.
He said if any state entity has an issue with a sitting governor, its head should write a letter to the governor and not delegate the role of summoning him or her to junior officers.
"If there is an issue that needs to be addressed, it should be. We are not saying we don't fight graft but let us be decent people," Gachagua said.
Mutua, however, said the notion that senior state officers should be treated differently when in conflict with the law smirks of impunity.
"Mr Gachagua believes crime investigation should have a hierarchy. Impunity," he said in a tweet.
