Ruto not to blame for arrests as the buck stops with IG - Senator Cheruiyot

According to Cheruiyot, decisions to arrest are made by the Inspector General of police and arms under the country’s security departments.

“The National Police Service operates on its own accord, and is independent of the Executive arm of government,” Cheruiyot told NTV on Monday.

The Kericho Senator further added that there is “a mistake being made” by people imagining that there is one command in government.

The Senator added that as per Article 249 of the Kenyan Constitution, the IG exercises independent command over the police service.

Cheruiyot further condemned the incident leading to web developer Rose Njeri’s detention. He termed the arrest an unfortunate incident, calling for the IG to be questioned on how the matter was handled.

“The person we need to seek out and ask for their opinion as to how all this is being handled is the Inspector-General because he is the one tasked with keeping the country safe”, answered Cheruiyot when he was quizzed as to how public dissent and protests are being handled.

His remarks come after Kenyan software developer and online activist Rose Njeri was detained by police after creating an online tool CivicEmail, which was to facilitate Kenyans raising their concerns on the 2025 Finance Bill.

Njeri was detained on Friday afternoon, with lawyers’ efforts to secure her release being unsuccessful.

Senator Cheruiyot urged the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (IPOA), to be pushed to confirm whether Njeri’s rights to an attorney, rights to visit by family are being guaranteed and why certain rights were denied.