Head of Presidential Special Projects and Creative Economy,
Dennis Itumbi now says that it is very easy to pick on the National Intelligence
Service (NIS).
In a statement seen by the Star, Itumbi said that is the case especially when one wants to criticise the government or the President directly.
He further explained that during his interactions with the agency, one thing has always stood out and it is that while they are vigilant and silent, they cannot speak about it.
He added that this nature makes the NIS an easy target.
“The truth is that it is very hard to love the National Intelligence Service (NIS), it is actually easier to hate and criticise them. Especially when the real target of the criticism is the Government or the President himself. NIS is always an easy target— silent, vigilant, without a voice of their own,” Itumbi said.
He, however, noted that this does not mean the Intelligence agency should not be held accountable.
Itumbi’s remarks come a day after the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Justin Muturi claimed that the NIS was the one that kidnapped his son.
Muturi in a statement recorded at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) alleged that after he received information on his son’s abduction, he reached out to all security agency bosses including the Inspector General, Head of the Anti-Terror Police Unit, the Interior Principal Secretary and also the Cabinet Secretary Interior who all denied knowing anything about the alleged abduction.
He claimed that calls to the NIS Director General went unanswered, even after one official from the agency told him that they were the ones who had his son.
The CS said that the following day it took the intervention of President William Ruto who made a call to the NIS boss Noordin Haji and after an hour his son was released.
“Standing outside the pavilion, I heard the President ask Noordin Haji if he was holding my son, Noordin confirmed that indeed he was holding my son and the President instructed him to release Leslie immediately. Noordin responded that Leslie would be released within an hour,” part of his statement reads.
This was a few months after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua accused the NIS of failing the President.
Gachagua said the DG was incompetent and was not providing information to the President. This was shortly after the June 25, 2024, Gen Z protests.
