Interior CS Kindiki clarifies his 2020 'there is going to be a war' speech

Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki has come out to clarify a statement he made in 2020 in which he seemingly asserted that an all-out war was going to break out in Kenya owing to alleged administrative shortcomings of former President Uhuru Kenyatta's government.

Kindiki made the utterances before the Senate in his then capacity as Tharaka Nithi Senator, drawing parallels between Uhuru's government and that of the Biblical king, Belshazzar.

Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus and grandson of the great Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar; history says that he let that go to his head.

When Belshazzar succeeded his father, the Persian empire attacked Babylon to challenge his status as King at a time the kingdom was facing a severe famine.

Instead of taking his kingship seriously and sparing basic supplies and fortifying his defenses, Belshazzar threw a huge banquet in his name. Because of his hubris, Babylon fell to the Persian empire in one night.

"Instead of being grateful that God had honored him among millions of citizens to be their leader, he entertained a government that was so divisive and oppressive. The Bible says he made a feast where he entertained other important people. He even committed sacrilege by using utensils taken from the temple of Jerusalem," said Kindiki on the floor of the House then.

"Mr. Speaker, as they were enjoying and making merry. As the deep state and system was celebrating, suddenly, there is going to be a war in this country, there is going to be a writing on the wall."

Speaking on Citizen TV's ‘Tonight’ show on Thursday, Kindiki clarified that when he made the remarks he said "wall" and not "war" in reference to Belshazzar's Biblical story.

According to the Book of Daniel, when Belshazzar and the ruling elite were fornicating and praising false gods at the aforesaid banquet, a human hand appeared and inscribed the words 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,' on the wall, which roughly translates to 'God has numbered the days of your kingdom; you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.'

"There are two differences between my speech in 2020 and what happened in June 25th (anti-government demos when Kenyans raided Parliament). The first difference of course is that towards the end of that clip, I said that there is going to be a ‘wall’; not war but wall...because I was talking about the writing on the wall," the Interior boss said.

Reflecting on the recent anti-government demos, Kindiki asserted that it is imperative for the State to consider the perspectives and grievances of Kenyans who took to the streets in protest of the ruling Kenya Kwanza regime.

"It is the right of Kenyans to tell the government what they think about that government. That is the basis of democracy. Displeasure, disapproval, disaffection all those things are democratic," he said.

"Citizens telling their government that they think government officials are living large is within their rights. We are listening and as you have seen from the President's interview on Sunday and subsequent communications, the government is not only committed to listen to the people of Kenya are saying but to implement every viable solution that can make our country better."