Political allies of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have expressed their concern over alleged increased intimidation and interference by security agencies in political, religious and cultural activities in the country.
Led by Githunguri Member of Parliament Gathoni Wa Muchomba, the political leaders say they are worried that the country is slowly transitioning to a police state where Kenyans are required to seek permission from the police before undertaking any activity.
The legislators alleged that politicians who appear to be criticising the current administration are now living in fear of being arbitrarily arrested and abducted for taking different political stances.
“People are being intimidated and abducted every day. We cannot be going to the courts every day to get court orders to allow us to go to church to attend funerals or weddings. The Kenya Constitution has given us our rights and our rights must be protected,” Wamuchomba said.
“I want to remind the police that the Constitution of Kenya 2010 has given them the right to do their work, but they are not mandated to interfere with religious, cultural, or social activities of Kenyans."
The Githunguri MP spoke at the Regional Criminal Investigation Headquarters in Nyeri, where she had accompanied Kiambu Senator Karungo Wa Thang’wa to honour summons by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to provide information about last week’s incident where former DP and mourners were attacked by suspected goons at a burial ceremony in Limuru.
Through his lawyer, Ndegwa Njiru, Thang’wa also served the regional criminal investigations office with a court order barring the police from arresting him.
Accompanying Thang’wa were Juja MP George Koimburi, former Limuru MP Peter Mwathi, Senators Joe Nyutu (Murang’a), John Methu (Nyandarua), Dan Maanzo (Makueni), and a host of Members of the County Assembly from Nyeri County.
The Kiambu senator expressed his frustration at being summoned in Nyeri, whereas the incident occurred in Kiambu County. He however, said that despite the numerous attempts to silence the dissenting voices, the leaders will not relent in fighting for the rights of Kenyans.
“You cannot tell me we came all the way to Nyeri only to be told to go back to Nairobi after being here for 5 hours and officers trying to present us with allegation after allegation to which we could not respond because we are the victims. We cannot come here to try and help DCI with the investigations; they are the investigating branch. For us, we feel that this is part of the intimidation. Trying to ensure that we do not serve our people,” stated Thang’wa.
“We are not going to be cowed or stopped from fighting for our people. And whether they send us to DCI 101 times, we are going to comply, but I know it is a scheme for them to either scare us or stop us from serving the people who elected us."
Lawyer Njiru termed the accusations baseless, adding that they were only meant to intimidate leaders from the Mount Kenya Region. Njiru said that politically, the Mount Kenya Region had already shifted their loyalty, and the leaders are ready to seek legal redress to help the people of the region fight against the political injustice and oppression.
“We are going to engage ourselves in this battle of trying to liberate this country, reclaiming this country, and rebuilding this country. We can confirm that the mountain is gone; there is no amount of intimidation that will silence and reverse things from where they are. We are ready to face our accusers head-on," he said.
Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo termed the investigations by the DCI on the Limuru chaos a sham. He said it was unfortunate that the government was using its machinery to intimidate victims of the attack instead of taking action against the perpetrators.
Maanzo also said that the legal team had already moved to the High Court to ensure that Thang’wa and Mwathi are exonerated and that the culprits face the full force of the law.
“The investigations are calculated to protect those who attacked people in a funeral in Limuru. We have already gone to the High Court, and we will make sure that the high court petition is prosecuted and the real culprits face the law squarely,” Maanzo said.
