BY SAM ALFAN.
Former powerful cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i has obtained temporary reprieve after the High Court stopped any plans to arrest him.
Justice Kanyi Kimondo granted the former Interior CS anticipatory bail by way of personal bond of Sh200,000.
The judge said that the DCI, Inspector General of Police, the Director of Public Prosecution and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission are at liberty to investigate any criminal conduct against Matiang’i.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, Matiang’i moved to court seeking to stop his arrest and prosecution after his house was allegedly raided by investigative agents. The police have however disputed the said allegations.
DCI boss Mohamed Amin said the former CS is under investigation, which has so far, reached the stage that requires his side of the story.
But he said Dr Matiang’i made deliberate attempt to spread false information and incite the public because he had told his guards that he was expecting guests, who were his lawyers and instructed them to grant access to his home when they arrive.
“The DCI confirms that there was a deliberate and malicious attempt to spread false information and incite fear, and is nothing more than the highest form of fake news,” Amin said.
Matiang’i wanted the court to restrain the police, the DPP and the EACC from arresting or charging him without conducting investigations and summoning him to appear before any office to record a statement if need be.
The former CS told the court that he had received credible information that the police were under express instructions to arbitrarily capture and arrest him with a view of arraigning him in court for ulterior political motives.
“In the afternoon of 9th February 2023, the applicant’s home was raided, surrounded and cordoned off by police officers who were seeking to arrest him. The police officers only retreated after the media and the applicant’s advocates arrived,” Omari said.
The court heard that Matiang’i has never been summoned to appear before any police station or investigative agency and no arrest warrants had been issued against him, in a clear breach of due process.
Matiang’i added that the power to arrest is being abused and misused to harass, intimidate and oppress him and his former cabinet colleagues as well as former President Uhuru Kenyatta, for extraneous purposes unconnected with upholding the law.
He claims that his woes got worse when he gave a speech at the home of the late cabinet colleague and Education CS Professor George Magoha where he shared the lessons on public service that he had learnt from the deceased.
It is alleged that next day, his security was withdrawn and the impending arrest is part of the scheme to harass and silence him forever.
“The 2nd respondent (Inspector General of Police) has already has already demonstrated malicious intent and a clear disregard for the rule of law by abusing due process as evidenced by the reduction and withdrawal of the security officers assigned to the applicant (Matiang’i), thereby exposing him to harm despite the sensitive nature of his last post as cabinet secretary.
However, Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin dismissed the claims that DCI officers were deployed to arrest former uhuru powerful man saying no officers from the DCI were deployed to find or arrest Matiang’i at his residence or anywhere else.
