Lee Kinyanjui angered by allegations of abducting Nakuru street children, dumping them in forest

Investment, Trade, and Industry Cabinet Secretary nominee Lee Kinyanjui has dismissed allegations of rounding up street families in Nakuru and dumping them at Embobut Forest in Elgeyo Marakwet in 2019.

The former Nakuru Governor who seemingly appeared agitated by the query referred to the accusations as an ‘act of fiction’ saying the claims were politically motivated.

Kinyanjui’s response was followed by a back and forth with National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula who at some point was forced to urge the ex-governor to maintain his ‘cool’ during the Parliamentary vetting session on Tuesday.

North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood had posed the question seeking clarification that, “in an attempt to make Nakuru attractive and make it a city, Kinyanjui picked up street children and families and went and dumped them in Embubut forest.”

Angered by the claim, Kinyanjui said, “It is extremely wrong… I also have very many allegations about everyone else so if it is about allegations, I think we can also come up with allegations.”

Wetangula stepped in to call the CS nominee to order saying the matter was of public interest and that it being an "allegation", it did not mean the nominee was guilty.

“I advise you not to lose your cool,” Wetangula urged as the CS nominee lamented that it was about protecting his integrity.

“Just answer the questions the way they are asked…go on and answer. If it is not true, even NO is an answer. But if you lose your cool, you will be unable to answer the next questions.”

Kinyanjui in his response accused the Senators who had brought up the report in 2020 of seeking political scores.

 “I have my conscience right and I can never do that. The unfortunate thing including at the Senate, is the politicians who are there and the people who were sponsoring it; let's be fair, you can't call a governor to come and answer to allegations put by their opponents with intentions to compete for elective positions and then use that story later against him,” said Kinyanjui.

“This country has the best intelligence in the region, we have never seen even one name, let's respect the institutions that we work. I was there throughout that period, how come only those people were known by politicians? Which family has ever come out? In short, that is an act of fiction.”

The matter came up in the Senate report back in 2020 where Kinyanjui, being the Nakuru County boss at the time county officials accused him of bundling 41 children into lorries and dumping them in Embobut and Chemasusu Forest in Baringo at night.

The then Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja who tabled the report said the aim was to clear them from the streets as part of efforts to clean the town so it can be granted city status.

“The submissions from the affected street children reveal that at least 41 children were forcibly removed from the streets by county officials, held in detention and later on the night of February 6, 2019, dumped in Chemasusu Forest,” the report reads.

The report further stated that Embobut forest was infested with hyenas and other dangerous wild animals and some of those children were never found.