By Samuel Ouma |@journalist_27
[caption id="attachment_61052" align="alignnone" width="750"] Ruto[/caption]
More reactions and information continue to emerge over an alleged scheme to end the deputy president Dr. William Ruto’s life.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations summoned four Cabinet Secretaries on Monday June 24, who are said to be hatching a plot to assassinate Ruto to thwart his presidential bid.
Cabinet Secretaries Peter Munya (Trade), Joseph Mucheru (ICT), Sicily Kariuki (Health) and James Macharia (Transport) among other leaders are accused of holding a meeting in a Nairobi hotel on May 14 with the main agenda being the DP (Deputy President).
Following a circulating letter about the alleged meeting Dr. Ruto gave a phone call to DCI claiming his life is in danger. The letter whose authenticity is in question unravel that interior Principal Secretary Dr.Karanja Kibicho had called a meeting whose agenda was how to eliminate Ruto, call for a referendum and bolster support for President Kenyatta.
“The PS told the meeting that DP must be stopped but more worrying was the allusion to the late Cabinet Minister and Former Vice President George Saitoti’s plane crash. The PS went on to say even, Saitoti who was planning to run for the presidency was stopped,” reads the part of the letter.
George Saitoti mentioned in the letter, was a former security minister in the Kibaki’s government. He alongside his assistant Orwa Ojode perished in a deadly plane crash in 2012 few months to 2013 general elections. The mystery behind his death is yet to be known even as some alleged it was an assassination because he had what it takes to succeed the former President Mwai Kibaki.
Appearing before DCI led by Trade CS Peter Munya, the leaders confirmed that the meeting took place but its agenda was purely development. Munya said the meeting had a blessing of the president following complaints raised by leaders from Mt. Kenya region, the President backyard that the region has been ignored in terms of the development and the Heads of State Corporations are inaccessible.
Responding to assassination plot, Munya rubbished the claims accusing Ruto of being reckless and irresponsible.
“I think it is irresponsible, unfair and intended to portray us in a very bad light so that we look like criminals who meet to plot criminal activities against him. It is also intended to injure our reputation as law abiding citizens,” said Munya.
Munya, Mucheru and Kariuki who showed up at the DCI headquarters said they were unable to record statements since there was no written complaint from the DP.
“The standard procedure is that if someone makes an allegation of that nature, he is required by the law to record a statement; he has not recorded any statement,” stated Munya.
The former governor criticized the DP for not raising such claims in any formal governmental meetings.
“He has never raised these issues formally in any of the government meetings or any formal forum,” he added.
Munya vowed the meetings will go on since the Constitution guarantees freedom of association and expression.
“There is nothing sinister, unusual for people from any particular part of this country to meet to discuss issues that affect them. Those meetings were geared towards finding solutions to socio-economic challenges experienced by the locals, not to assassinate the DP,” reiterated Munya.
They promised to take legal action against Ruto once the DCI is through with the investigations.
In the latest development, Moses Kuria, central Kenya legislator has disclosed that he was the organizer of the meeting dismissing assassination plot. Speaking in a live TV interview on Tuesday morning, Kuria said truth will be known once the investigative agencies have completed investigations.
“The whole meeting including the choice of the hotel I’m the one who initiated because I am the coordinator of development in our region,” he said.
