Kenya: Odinga Defends Former DCI Boss Kinoti, Accuses President Ruto of Being Vindictive

3 November 2022
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Davis Ayega

Nairobi — Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Leader Raila Odinga has accused President William Ruto of “pursuing a personal vendetta” against former Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti.

Odinga on Thursday regretted that President Ruto’s regime had resorted to being “vindictive” against the state officers of the former regime “in the pretext of pursuing extrajudicial persecutions.”

“Ruto appears to believe that the coming of his regime is a perfect mandate for him to punish the officers he long had a grudge against. We are here to say no,” Odinga said.

The former Prime Minister stressed that they would not sit and watch President Ruto advance his agenda to persecute the officers who were just doing their job.

“We oppose that attempt to sacrifice state officers who in the line of duty may have rubbed the politicians the wrong way,” he said.

He decried that the previous regime’s subsequent selective punishment against Kinoti and other state officers was unwarranted.

While citing Ruto’s inquest to find the two missing Indians who were to be part of his presidential campaign team and a driver, Odinga called for “an equal vigorous investigation into the search and deaths of other Kenyans”.

Odinga accordingly wants President Ruto to investigate the deaths of among others Sergent Kipyegon Kenei who was attached to his office while he was the Deputy President.

Kenei who was an Administration Police Officer died on February 2020 before recording a statement at the DCI on the Sh39.5 billion fake arms deal linked to the office of the Deputy President.

Odinga also wants President Ruto to launch a probe on the mysterious death of Christopher Koeach who was a witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the case of the late lawyer Paul Gicheru.

Kinoti Resigns

Kinoti resigned at the start of President Ruto’s regime in what subsequently led to a flurry of accusations from President Ruto’s allies that he led a rogue agency.

President Ruto on October 16, swung-into action and consequently disbanded the DCI Special Service Unit (SSU) formerly known as the flying squad.

Already nine officers who were members of the unit are in court and are helping with the investigations in the case of the two missing Indians and the driver.

Kinoti has seen his former senior officers turn around and accuse him of engineering the charging of key politicians, among them Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, with corruption.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has also blamed Kinoti for the high rate of unsuccessful convictions his office has had.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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