Security Absent At Ruto’s Event Over Poor Communication -PS Kibicho Explains

On Thursday, senior police officers were missing in action at an event attended by Deputy President William Ruto raising eyebrows.

A local TV station had reported that the officers were withdrawn from the Nyeri event by the provincial administration.

But according to Interior PS Karanja Kibicho who spoke to the Nation, the DP’s office did not communicate well ahead of time his itinerary, hence the blunder.

“There is no way anyone can downgrade the security of the Deputy President. It is not possible,” PS Kibicho said.

He further argued that officers were deployed to the event, but when they got there, the event was over.

Protocol requires that whenever a senior government official is attending an event in a particular area then word is sent in advance to the County Commissioners in the area, who in turn make the necessary arrangements and deploy security officers ahead of the visit.

Kibicho also told the daily that the late deployment was caused by the Huduma Namba registration exercise that also requires officers to be on the ground.

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On Friday however, Tetu Sub-County Police Commander Isaiah Odhiambo denied rumours that security was withdrawn from Ruto’s event.

In fact he said, the reports being peddled by the TV station and bloggers were false and misleading.

“I was informed two days earlier about the event and we made the security arrangements. Upon landing at a nearby school, the Deputy President found security officers and I was the team leader,” Odhiambo told the daily.

“The bloggers were spreading false information for political purposes. We, in the security, do not play politics,” he continued.

Last week, police officers attached to a number of politicians allied to the DP were withdrawn.

Those affected include; Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa and Kandara’s Alice Wahome.

According to the PS, the move is not meant to target certain individuals but instead “free over 10,000 officers in the National Police Service to be deployed for other assignments.”