Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has distanced himself from a report carried by NTV suggesting that he called for the resignation of Deputy President William Ruto when he appeared before the Senate security committee on Wednesday.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the interior ministry termed the report as false and malicious.
“The unverified report is a misrepresentation of the true record of the proceedings readily and publicly available, even to NTV, in Parliament’s Hansard records. The net effect of such fabrications can cause disharmony in the executive arm of government, ” the statement reads.
The ministry further stated that Matiang’i has referred the matter to his lawyers for further action.
The station owned by the Nation Media Group had quoted a source who they claimed attended the grilling session that was majorly about the arrest of senators early this week as the Senate debated on the revenue sharing formula.
NTV quoted the source saying that the CS had called for the resignation of the second in command for criticizing the same government he serves in over the arrest of senators.
The media was barred from covering the grilling session.
Journalists who had arrived in Parliament were ordered out by the chairman of the National Security Committee Yusuf Haji.
Read: Media Barred From Covering Matiang’i, IG Mutyambai Senate Grilling Over Arrest Of Lawmakers
“What are you doing here. I don’t remember inviting you here. Go back we will call you back later,” the Garissa Senator told journalists.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka had ordered the panel to summon the top security bosses including Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti after they skipped an invitation on Monday to explain the arrest of the senators opposed to the population-driven formula fronted by the state.
The three senators who were arrested prior to the debate on revenue sharing formula include Cleophas Malala (Kakamega), Steve Lelegwe (Samburu) and Dr Christopher Langat (Bomet). They were later freed with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropping charges against Malala.
Read Also: Abuse Of Police To Intimidate And Blackmail Senators Is Very Wrong – DP Ruto
DP Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga had condemned the dramatic arrests calling out the state for using the criminal justice system to intimidate and blackmail elected leaders in order to sway their votes.
During the Wednesday grilling, Matiang’i, however, stated that the arrests had nothing to do with the revenue stalemate.
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