DID FRED MATIANG’I THREATEN TO JAIL DP WILLIAM RUTO?

A Facebook post with a video of Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government, Fred Matiang’i, is FALSE.

The post contains a quote attributed to Matiang’i stating that he called former Prime Minister Raila Odinga ‘his boss’ and threatened to jail Deputy President William Ruto before the next elections.

“Raila Odinga ni Boss wangu na niko na haki ya kusimama nae. Huyu mwizi mwingine wa mashamba kutoka Sugoi hakuna kitu anaweza ambia wakenya na uongo yake, imebaki aseme aliwazalia watoto tu.

Ata naeza mweka yeye jela kabla uchaguzi ujao (Raila Odinga is my boss and I have the right to support him. This other land grabber from Sugoi has nothing to tell Kenyans other than his lies, all he is left to say is that he bore you children. I can jail him before the next general elections),” reads the quote.

The video has a station identification of NTV Kenya. NTV posted the video on its Facebook page on 16 December 2021. In the video, Matiang’i endorsed Odinga’s presidential bid.

“Endorsement: Interior CS Fred Matiang’i says he needs no one’s permission to support Raila’s presidential bid,” reads NTV’s Facebook post.

The video was taken during the launch of the new sub-county headquarters in Nyakach Constituency, Kisumu County, which the CS presided over.

According to the transcript of the video, the CS refers to President Uhuru Kenyatta as his boss and not Odinga as claimed.

“Mheshimiwa rais is my boss. Ni yeye ndiye amenipea kazi nifanye. Akiamuru vile tunaenda, its logical mimi nikiwa waziri wake wa usalama. Mimi napiga laini mahali rais amepiga laini”(The president is my boss.

He is the one who appointed me. When he decrees the direction towards which we must go, it is logical for me as his CS for Interior to follow), he said.

Additionally, while he made veiled attacks on the deputy president for taking credit for government projects whilst opposing the government itself, Matiang’i did not mention jailing Ruto.

“Wakati ile port ilianza kujengwa walikuwa mheshimiwa Uhuru Kenyatta na mheshimiwa Raila Odinga, tukiwa pale kuamuru tuanze kazi. Na hiyo port imetengenezwa ikakuwa. Sasa watu wameanza ni mzunguko tu. Karibu sasa waanze kusema, unajua mimi, hata hawa watoto wenu, mimi ndio nimewazalia.” (When construction work at the port began, it was Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, who ordered it. That project has now been completed, and now people have started going round in circles. They are now about to say they bore your children for you), he said referring to the rehabilitation of Kisumu port.16 December 2021

Further, a threat by Matiang’i to jail the deputy president would have been widely covered by the media, yet a spot check of the coverage of the event by some local broadcasters and publications, including The Star and Citizen TV, shows no such threats were made.

PesaCheck has examined a Facebook post accompanying a video of the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government, Fred Matiang’i, and found it to be FALSE.

Courtesy The Star