Drama at DCI headquarters as Kalonzo, Wamalwa denied access to arrested Waititu
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka accompanied by former Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa, politician Jimmie Wanjigi, former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu and others hold a press conference in Kitengela blaming the state for a recent spate of abductions.
Azimo la Umoja leaders led by Wiper Party boss Kalonzo Musyoka were on Monday barred from accessing former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi following the latter’s arrest in Ruiru.
Mr Kalonzo, who was accompanied by his Democratic Alliance Party-Kenya (DAP-K) counterpart, Eugene Wamalwa, Jubilee’s Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni and Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo, was forced to leave the DCI precincts after several officers told him they “had orders not to allow him and his deputation into the headquarters”.
All this while, the former governor was cooling his heels inside the DCI offices where he was being grilled over remarks he made Sunday evening at a music launch concert in Ruiru, Kiambu County.
This was revealed by his lawyer, Ndegwa Njiru who had earlier been granted access to the embattled former county boss.
According to Mr Wamalwa, the entire team denied entry to the DCI offices were part of Mr Waititu’s legal team which was supposed to be led by the Wiper Party boss who is a senior counsel and was to take charge of the case.
Prior to the concert, Mr Waititu had been among the deputation of leaders who accompanied former Vice President Kalonzo, Wamalwa, Kioni and politician Jimmy Wanjigi to a church service in Mlolongo.
Their plan was to join the recently released activist Bob Njagi who had been abducted by people believed to be state security officers in August and released exactly a month later on September 19, 2024.
They were to address residents later and make pronouncements, including criticising the State for the recent spate of extrajudicial killings and abductions witnessed in the country at various stopovers in the towns of Mlolongo and Kitengela.
This plan however did not materialise as they were blocked by police officers from holding their rallies, a move that forced the leaders to attend a service at Kitengela Glorious church.
Speaking moments before leaving the DCI headquarters yesterday, the Wiper Party boss said Mr Waititu’s arrest was illegal since the police did not follow the right process before resorting to pick him up at the bypass area in Ruiru.
Alternative voice
He also said they would not be cowed to silence by the State and that they were offering an alternative voice that resonates with Kenyans who are tired with how the Kenya Kwanza administration is running the country’s affairs.
“I do not understand why the police have abducted Baba Yao (Waititu). We were very vocal yesterday in Kitengela that these abductions must stop and any unexplained arrest like that of grabbing Waititu and shepherding him to DCI headquarters is nothing short of an abduction. They could have gone to court, obtained orders and looked for him,” he said.
The Wiper boss said it was ironic for President William Ruto to go to Haiti and say that the Kenyan contingent of police officers in the Caribbean nation were dealing with abduction squads yet people are being abducted back in Kenya.
For Mr Kalonzo, Waititu’s arrest is nothing short of intimidation because anyone who has an opinion that differs with that of the current regime will be afraid to speak for fear of reprisals, including arrests by DCI officers.
“We are going to demystify this thing. The DCI itself is not above the law. The DCI director himself is not above the law. We are dealing with senior legal minds in this country, you cannot intimidate us,” he said.
DAP-K boss, Wamalwa said that they had been told that Mr Waititu made some remarks in Ruiru that prompted his arrest by the authorities.
This move, he said, was a case of the state weaponising the criminal justice system for their own selfish interests, effectively clawing back on gains made by democracy in the country.
“We want to tell this government that freedom of expression is part of our rights. Those constitutional rights and freedoms enshrined in our constitution guaranteed to every Kenyan including Baba Yao cannot be infringed upon. We are here to stand with our brother and client to ensure his rights are respected," he said.
For Mr Kioni, the former governor should not be subjected to such treatment because several politicians use allegories and symbolism when speaking in political rallies and have never been targeted by security agencies.
According to the Jubilee party boss, Mr Waititu’s arrest is a diversionary tactic to divert Kenyans’ attention from what the Azimio brigade said Sunday afternoon with regards to the planned impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“Our rallying call is Kufa makanga, kufa dereva (if the bus conductor dies, so does the driver). If they deal with Gachagua, then the next one is President Ruto himself and we will not be diverted from that position. When we said Ruto must go, it is Ruto must go and it is Kenyans themselves who said he must go,” he said.
