• Interior CS Matiang'i said the Deputy President is guarded by 257 police in Karen and 10 other properties
• The police is providing bodyguards to many individuals who were once in government or who were never in government
Last week the Administration Police took over most of the security of Deputy President William Ruto from the GSU.
Ruto supporters and staff screamed that he was being put in danger but yesterday Interior CS Fred Matiang'i vigorously defended the changes in Parliament.
He said that Ruto still had 257 security personnel guarding him and 10 personal properties. His 'inner' security layer still comprised five GSU officers. He said that the Deputy President's residence in Karen is not gazetted as a state lodge and not entitled to GSU protection.
These arguments are somewhat ingenuous. The Deputy President can become President at any time - he or she is not an ordinary Deputy and should not be treated like one.
Government now needs to revisit the security of VIPs and set out a definitive policy. Today the police provides security to too many people, many of whom are no longer in government or who never were in government. The number of beneficiaries should be slashed.
A new protection policy should not only reduce the number of people being guarded but should also reduce the number of private properties a VIP can have guarded.
Quote of the day: "Each of you, as an individual, must pick your own goals. Listen to others, but do not become a blind follower."
Thurgood Marshall
He was sworn in as the first African-American justice of the US Supreme Court on September 2, 1967