Nairobi — Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has dismissed claims by Deputy President William Ruto that the withdrawal of National Police Reservists from the bandit-infested Kerio Valley was meant to punish him.
Ruto, who is vying for the presidency under his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party made the claim at the joint media presidential debate Tuesday, where he stood alone on the podium after his main challenger Raila Odinga of the Azimio La Umojastayed away.
"The withdrawal of the reservists was a political agenda meant to punish Ruto. We had over 5,000 police reservists who were relieved of their duties leaving the communities exposed. There was a false narrative after the handshake and the government said police reservists in the area were Ruto's militia and they were withdrawn and the situation went south," Ruto told debate moderators Eric Latiff of Spice FM/KTN TV and Citizen TV's Yvonne Okwara.
But in a quick rejoinder, Matiang'i defended the government's position arguing it has never withdrawn reservists from any part of the country terming the claims as "shameful."
"As we speak right now, we have National Police Reservists (NPRs) in some parts of North Rift. There has never been a time where we have withdrawn them from North Rift or any part of the country. What happens in the security sector is that reviews are done from time to time depending on what is needed in a particular area," said the CS.
The Interior CS said that in most instances the Government consults with local groups and leaders, before making some decisions including redeployment.
"In some areas, the public and even their political leaders tell you we a need a redeployment of police reservists," Matiang'i said.
Matiang'i pointed out that the decision to provide security to Kenyans is a constitutional requirement and not determined by individuals.
"To be very honest I don't like commenting on some of these petty political things because some people lie all the time like it is a career. You saw those lies yesterday (Tuesday). They lie about anything probably the only true thing about themselves is their name," said Matiang'i.
During the debate, Ruto said that he was forced to deploy his personal resources to deal with the insecurity situation in Nort Rift region that is under a dusk to dawn curfew.
