According to the stories peddled by President William Ruto's acolytes in Kisii politics and the social media propaganda machine, former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i completely and cravenly capitulated, which resulted in the dismissal of the charges related to the alleged police raid on his home. The abrupt changes as Matiang'i avoided facing the prospect of imprisonment and, in exchange, reportedly switched his allegiance to President Ruto, implicitly abandoning the opposition leader Raila Odinga, marked a dramatic and eventful week for the formerly all-powerful minister.
After Matiang'i saw how difficult it can be to be in the other position, he withdrew into silence, leaving Kisii establishment officials such as Education CS Ezekiel Machogu to proudly claim credit for what appears to be a significant victory for Ruto's Kenya Kwanza brigade. Although a solution appears to have been reached, it was also evident that the Kisii leadership is deeply divided. Machogu and other supporters of the administration are keen to show that they have subdued Matiang'i and made him follow orders. Yet, a number of opposition lawmakers assert that the outcome was actually a win for the former CS, who they maintain is the acknowledged leader of the community.Additionally, the MPs assert that it was their direct.
The immediate background is that Matiang'i reported to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations after returning from a trip abroad while being questioned by police about an alleged raid at his home. He was detained there for more than seven hours. His attorneys encouraged him to use his right to remain silent because the questions he was being asked had less to do with the purported raid and more to do with a wealth-related fishing expedition.
A few days later, Mohammed Ali, the director of criminal investigations, gave an inquiry file to Noordin Haji, the director of public prosecutions, recommending that Matiang'i and his attorney, Dunstan Omari, be charged with disseminating false information and conspiring to commit a felony. Here, timelines are crucial. On March 6, Matiang'i showed up at the DCI. The following day, March 7, the DPP received the file recommending prosecution. A small delegation of lawmakers, largely from Mr. Odinga's ODM, paid President Ruto a visit on March 8.
They warned him not to do anything that the Gusii community would construe as bullying Matiang'i because it would backfire. It was making their own efforts to work with the government more difficult and would have a negative effect on the president's "tour of the
Separately, Machogu was cautioning that the problem was provoking hostility in the neighborhood. According to individuals engaged, the president authorized Machogu and other local officials to seek a cease-fire keeping these warnings in mind.
A conference of Kisii leaders was presided over by Machogu on March 12 with Matiang'i visibly seated next to him at the high table. Any Kenyan leader who is in conflict with the government, faces the possibility of prosecution, or is otherwise viewed as an adversary and troublemaker would ordinarily be off-limits at such a conference. In the meeting, which appeared to have Matiang'i's full support, topics such as Kisii unity, collaboration with the government, and the President's upcoming trip were discussed.
The DCI file did not contain any evidence that could withstand scrutiny in a court of law, according to DPP Haji, who made the announcement the next day, March 13, that Matiang'i would not be charged.
In an uncommon turn of events, he requested that the investigations be closed completely and that no further action be taken instead of asking the DCI to conduct investigations to fill in the gaps as is customary. Although everything could have been a coincidence, there is a good likelihood that the flurry of activity and Matiang'i's "independence" were somehow connected. It might be considered a sensible move in terms of lowering tensions, denying Odinga a pretext to exploit, and thwarting the potential partnership between Matiang'i and Odinga.
When the former minister reported a police siege at his home, the opposition leader was the first person on the scene. Also, he showed up to show support while Matiang'i was being questioned at the DCI headquarters, making a lot of noise for the cameras when he was turned away.
But it also calls into question once more if DCI Amin and DPP Haji are following orders from the political establishment. The high number of criminal charges against Ruto associates that Haji has abruptly withdrawn, citing a lack of evidence in the files handed to him by expelled DCI George Kinoti, has drawn much attention since the new government assumed office. He has never adequately clarified why he decided to bring charges.
Amin is the successor of a director who was generally believed to have abused his position by fabricating criminal charges against Ruto loyalists. Kinoti was one of the first victims of the Ruto administration, which took office on a promise to eradicate the practice of politically motivated prosecutions. Nothing has changed if the zeal with which his successor, Amin, pursues people who are unpopular with the government is any indication. One example is the egregiously flawed file that recommended Matiang'i be prosecuted. What happens to Matiang'i now is the key question.
In an interview with The Weekly Review, MP Patrick Osero said that'soft diplomacy' had the upper hand. He was a member of the ODM team who went to see Ruto and urged him to stop the persecution of Matiang'i, noting that it was not popular with the public. Osero is in a good position to intervene on Ruto's behalf because she was a member of the notorious Youth for Kanu '92 organization that fought against the movement for a multi-party system in the early 1990s.
He has also been the President's business partner. A few years ago, when concerns were raised about how the land on which the Weston Hotel was built, he came forward to defend the President by claiming that he was the real owner of the hotel on Lang'ata Road.
The courts rejected a similar attempt in 2020 because the evidence presented did not meet the necessary standard, but the State House change of guard may give Itumbi the confidence to make another attempt. Additionally, Ruto's propaganda team has emphasized claims that Matiang'i and other influential members of President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration are being investigated by the Kenya Revenue Authority, which is also concerning in addition to raising questions about whether such organizations are sharing confidential information with political figures. If the DCI file on the alleged police siege was a non-starter, it's possible that Matiang'i was obliged to submit because of other, more significant issues.
