Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang’i, has stated that the police will take stern action against Kenyans planning to reject the August 9 election results and demonstrate in the streets.
Speaking at a clergy forum in Murang’a county on Friday, June 4, Matiang’i stated that security agencies are prepared to deal with any form of violence after the results of the August 9 polls are announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Instead, the CS advised the losers in the elections to move to court, stating that it was the right way of raising concerns over the electoral process.
Kenyan police officers in a previous security operation.
AFP “No one can hold this country at ransom. If you do not like the results, you go to court. If you do anything that is not the court, then you will be met by the Inspector General of Police, Hillary Mutyambai, and me and we shall not treat you very kindly because you are breaking the law.
“The law is very clear. You do not have a choice, neither do any of us. When the people of Kenya speak and it is read by the IEBC, we are bound by the law. No one will tell us anything else,” he stated.
Additionally, he maintained that the government will hand over power to the next government regardless of the winner in the August 9 presidential vote.
He insisted that the position of a majority of the CSs supporting the candidature of former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, will not be a stumbling block for Deputy President William Ruto in the event he is declared the winner.
“We have taken an oath to enforce the law and I can promise you that we shall enforce it with ruthlessness. When the IEBC announces that a particular person is a winner, our work as the government is to prepare our handover notes.
“Whoever is elected and takes an oath to become the Commander-in-Chief, that is the person you will salute. That is the law. Affiliation is an emotional thing but when it comes to the law, it is a duty,” he stated.
Matiang’i explained that the government has a duty of ensuring that there is a smooth transition even as he revealed that government officials were preparing their handing over notes for the incoming administration.
The Interior boss has been one of the CSs criticised by the Ruto-led faction, Kenya Kwanza, for being partisan, further alleging that they were planning to rig the polls.
However, the CSs have defended themselves from the attacks questioning why the DP did not have a problem when they campaigned alongside him in the 2017 General Election.
DP William Ruto addresses a crowd during a Kenya Kwanza rally at the Msabaha stadium in Kilifi county on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
William Ruto violence
