Interior CS Kithure Kindiki insisted that 42 Kenyans died during the anti-government protests between June and August, disputing claims from several human rights groups that the death toll is 61.
During his appearance before the National Assembly Security and Administration Committee on Thursday, Kindiki explained that the Committee received a report detailing information about 30 individuals who were killed during the protests and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
He requested that the Committee grant him 24 hours to provide information on the remaining 12 cases, assuring the MPs that the government has nothing to hide.
“What I’m pleading is to be given 24 hours to provide the other 12 in supplementary information as I’ve said the government has nothing to hide. We cannot hide the fact that a Kenyan has died. What we need to do is to find the circumstances in which they died and if there’s a culpability even by a security officer, we ensure that justice is served,” he stated.
Kindiki defended the police’s actions during the protests, emphasizing that the government does not have a policy on abductions. He stressed that there is no evidence linking the police to the 132 Kenyans who are still missing.
“Myself, including the President himself, have made it clear that this administration does not condone abductions or extra-judicial killings or enforced disappearances. It is unfair to visit the policy on extra-judicial killings unless we’re provided with evidence of policy pronouncements that support this unlawful behaviour,” Kindiki remarked.
He further added, “If the police had not used lethal force during the invasion of Parliament, we would not have the Kenya we have today. The fact that a Kenyan was shot in the vicinity of police during the protests is not evidence enough that the police are the ones who shot the Kenyans.”
The CS at the same time informed the Committee that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations has evidence that politicians allied to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua facilitated anti-government protests.
“I am informed by DCI that high-level prosecutions will ensue anytime from now, including political leaders who financed protests; and we have evidence, they financed people to loot shops, to kill Kenyans, expose them to danger. We cannot continence the kind of mayhem we saw in July and June for whatever reason.
“And that’s why I’ve said this job is a very unpopular job. We will do it. We are going to prosecute high-level people who assisted criminals to harm other people, to destroy infrastructure and they have even made an attempt to actually bring down such a serious institution like Parliament to the people of Kenya,” Kindiki said.
The DCI has since preferred charges against 5 Gachagua allies, namely MPs Benjamin Gathiru Mwangi alias Mejja Donk (Embakasi Central), James Mwangi Gakuya (Embakasi North), Martin Deric Ngunjiri Wambugu (former Nyeri MP), George Theuri (former Embakasi West MP), and Pius G. Munene.
