Raid at former interior CS Fred Matiang’i home condemned.
Who is Fred Matiang’i?
If Fred Matiang’i is detained and charged, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has declared that he will be the first to stand up for him. Addressing on Friday at Azimio’s anti-government rally in Kisii, Kalonzo said that although he rarely attends court proceedings, he will be there for the benefit of the former CS. The Wiper leader called the information provided about the supposed search of Matiang’i’s Karen home political propaganda.
The former CS has been defended by Azimio’s leaders, who have stated that they are completely behind him. Raila stated on Friday that he is willing to die for the former interior chief secretary. The ODM leader reiterated his willingness to fight for the former cabinet secretary in defence. He told Matiang’i to maintain his position and that he will sacrifice his life for him. He declared that We don’t want them (Kenya Kwanza) to restore authoritarianism to the nation.
Former Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa asked Kisii residents to support Matiang’i during the march on Friday. President William Ruto, according to Wamalwa, is seeking retribution for Matiang’i reportedly taking his position during the latter months of the Jubilee government’s rule. Wamalwa went on to say that he is aware that the Kenya Kwanza government will pursue them. But he added that they won’t be scared off.
After learning that the government intended to arrest him, Matiang’i applied for anticipatory bail. He claimed in his application that President William Ruto’s administration was conducting a political witch hunt by raiding his residence. He claimed that unnamed insiders had told him that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission would detain him and accuse him of abuse of office.
ODM leader Raila Odinga criticized the police operation and claimed it indicated a return to a police state in the nation. He criticized Matiang’i’s treatment, who was Interior CS only a few months prior. When speaking to the reporters at the former CS’s Karen house, he remarked, “Fred Matiang’i doesn’t need to be treated like a criminal.”
Omari instructed the police to provide a copy of the directive that served as the basis for their conduct. “What they did is unlawful and in disobedience of the court, which denied them orders,” he declared. In a news release, DCI revealed that as part of its inquiries into a prior raid at the location, it had received orders to seize CCTV recordings from the former CS’s residence.
Eight Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) vehicles were on the compound during an operation that was supposedly meant to retrieve CCTV footage. Dunstan Omari, the attorney for Matiang’i, verified the raid and pointed out that the police officers went against a court order prohibiting them from forcibly seizing the CCTV footage.
He verified that Matiang’i was not home when the police attacked and ransacked his Karen home and said that they had arrested the watchman for trying to raise the alarm over the raid on the former CS Matiang’i’s residence. He added that the police had also broken down the doors leading to Matiang’i’s house and had requested entry to every room. Omari claimed that if given the opportunity, he would name each of the more than twenty police officers who invaded Matiang’i’s residence individually.
Amin Mohamed, the head of the DCI, revealed in a statement to newsrooms that the directorate had been granted permission by the court to search Matiang’i’s Karen residence. In a statement, DCI said, “We will take action after our investigation is complete if any officers from any security agency were engaged in any unauthorized activities, or if any false information was wilfully released to the public. When Matiang’i’s attorneys arrived at the compound and asked for a court order granting them entry to the house, police officers left.
Omari asserted that the DCI agents destroyed the CCTV systems and the video evidence of the earlier raid on the same location. On Wednesday, February 15, DCI submitted a request for a court order requesting permission to obtain the CCTV video from the security company monitoring Matiang’i’s residence.
An order was issued compelling the manager of Amsee Security Services Limited (the Respondent) to provide footage from the CCTV system installed and or controlled by the Respondent at the residence of a lion for the time between 6:00 am on February 8 and 11:00 on February 9.
DCI pleaded with the court on behalf of Fred Matiang’i, the former cabinet minister for interior and national security. The security company was not required to provide its detectives with a certificate of production of electronic evidence of the CCTV video, however, by the court.
