'I was last in Nakuru two years ago!' PS Kibicho rubbishes DP Ruto claims that Gov't plotting chaos

Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho has dismissed claims made by Deputy President William Ruto alleging that the government was behind the distribution of inciteful leaflets in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, and that the State is actively trying to create chaos at the ballot in a bid to scuffle his presidential bid.

The PS' sentiments come after DP Ruto on Thursday claimed that he was privy to information that leaflets were distributed to communities in the Rift Valley region this week, warning them of possible chaos in the August polls.

He likewise alleged that a closed door meeting, whose agenda he says was to plan for the aforementioned commotion, recently took place in Nakuru County and that it was organised and attended by senior government officials led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Speaking on Citizen TV's ‘Tonight’ Show on Thursday, Kibicho slammed DP Ruto for allegedly playing the sympathy card and lying to Kenyans by making false accusations that he can't seem to back with concrete evidence.

"When you hold a position as big as the DP of a country try, try and persuade yourself to be truthful, it is the honorable thing to do. The last time I stepped foot in Nakuru was two years ago and it is shameful for a DP to imagine that we were in Nakuru plotting anything. He is speaking as if we were there planning things. It is shameful to lie on cameras on such a grave thing," said Kibicho.

He likewise rebuffed further claims made by DP Ruto that the State is working in cahoots with National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) to ensure that the elections are marred with violence, citing that it is protocol for the Interior Ministry to hold regular security meetings with the said officers during any electioneering period.

"These are masters of reverse psychology…we have been meeting our chiefs from 2017. Our administration officers are the chairs of the security committees in their jurisdiction. We are having an election whose temperature is high; what irresponsible PS and CS would we be if we don't check on what is happening on the ground during an election?" he posed.

"We need to be given a break and be allowed to do our work because we do not meet them (NGAOs) in the forests, we meet with them out in the open and we always brief the media."

Kibicho correspondingly chimed in on the fate of the nine Moi University students who are being detained for allegedly circulating hate speech leaflets in Eldoret noting that investigations into the matter are still ongoing and that more arrests will follow soon.

"The people who have authored them and who have connections to them are in our custody and they’re being interrogated and we shall get to the bottom of this. We shall get to know the masterminds behind them. More arrests are following not just the nine, because these campaigns didn't start one week ago when the leaflets started showing up, these campaigns started a long time ago.

The PS similarly reiterated that the Ministry of Interior and all agencies under it will continue to carry out their mandate despite ruffling a few feathers.