Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen has condemned the arrest of Dennis Itumbi over links to a mysterious letter in the alleged plot by Mount Kenya leaders to eliminate Deputy President William Ruto.
Itumbi, who is a Digital Strategist at the DP’s Annex office, was arrested on Wednesday at Charlie’s Bistro restaurant in Nairobi’s Central Business District by officers from the Flying Squad.
Taking to Twitter, the Elgeyo Marakwet senator said Itumbi’s arrest was only aimed at diverting attention from the La Mada meeting and its plans.
Arrest of @OleItumbi is a strategy to divert attention from the La Mada meeting&plan.Was there a meeting?Did PS in charge of DCI say Ruto must be stopped Saitoti way?Who complained about assassination?And to who?The authenticity of the allegations is more important than a letter
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) July 3, 2019
It’s alleged that the letter in question was authored at a cybercafe in Lang’ata.
The DP had raised complaints to President Uhuru Kenyatta over the plot by the leaders to eliminate him. He is also reported to have called the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti to share his fears.
The letter dated May 30, 2019, saw four cabinet Secretaries and a number of other leaders summoned to record statements with the DCI after President Kenyatta was alarmed following Ruto’s concerns.
Read: Interior PS Kibicho Wants DP Ruto Investigated Over Harassment At JKIA
The letter claims that a meeting was convened at Hotel La Mada behind the National Intelligence Service (NIS) headquarters to discuss how to “shore up support for the President in Mt Kenya and its diaspora” and the issue of Mr Ruto’s “assassination”.
Cabinet Secretaries Joseph Mucheru (ICT), Sicily Kariuki (Health), and Peter Munya (Trade) honoured the summons on Monday and confirmed secret meeting reports but denied there was a plot to eliminate the DP.
Transport CS James Macharia was also summoned but was not among the trio, who held a press briefing outside DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road. Macharia was in China.
Itumbi had blasted the Nation Media Group on Monday over a story linking two of DP Ruto’s aide in the authoring of the letter.
Also Read: DCI Links DP Ruto’s Aides To Letter In Assassination Plot
The Sunday Nation had reported that the aides from Dr Ruto’s communication department were being sought by the DCI.
Itumbi described the publication of the article as “journalism at its lowest form.’
“They mentioned where the communication officers allegedly being sought work. We are about 10. None of us got a call or a text. Copy and paste journalism from unnamed sources who lie, should not find a home,” Itumbi noted.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, who is also linked to the plot to stop DP Ruto from contesting for Presidency come 2022, has since dismissed the claims as mere propaganda.
“It is utter nonsense. There are people out there hawking falsehoods and they will be embarrassed,” he said.
Also Read: Interior PS Kibicho Wants DP Ruto Investigated Over Harassment At JKIA
The office of the DCI and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had last week sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to unravel the mystery behind the assassination plot.
The officers, who have accused the DP of derailing investigations after he declined to make an official complaint with the DCI, will be seeking the service of US-crime busters to determine the authenticity of the letter.
The Director of Public Prosecution Nooridin Haji said the move is aimed at allowing ‘independent’ investigations into the matter, as DP Ruto’s camp has in the past accused them of being biased.
“We have been accused before of being biased in our work. We decided to bring an independent body to carry out investigations and identify the people who authored the suspicious letter and the origin of the allegations,” Haji told MPs on Thursday.
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