Public Service CS Muturi takes on Ruto over abductions

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin B. Muturi has taken a swipe on his boss president William Ruto’s led administration and called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to unearth a series of abductions that have been going on in the past in Kenya targeting online government critics.
While condemning the abductions, the CS said the rising cases of abductions, especially of the Kenyan youngsters, which has been characterised by unlawful detention and torture by unknown people suspected to be security personnel, need to stop.
Speaking during a press briefing held at Serena Hotel, Nairobi today, the CS said his son was abducted, held incommunicado for days, tortured, and released without being presented to court. He says he has been trying to seek answers from the government in vain.
“My son was abducted and disappeared. I was not sure whether he was alive or dead. Despite making several appeals, I was unable to trace him. Now, (its) more than six months after the ordeal and his subsequent release by unknown individuals, he has not been charged with any offense,” an emotional Muturi stated.
Muturi said although the security personnel allege that they are not involved in the abductions, they have failed to prevent or arrest those involved in the incidents happening in the public in broad daylight.
The former National Assembly speaker is the first top Government to admit openly that the abductions that have been witnessed in the past in the country have a blessing of the security officers. The abduction standard after the Gen Z stormed Parliament citing the Government not responsible towards the poor, especially the youth.
As a former Magistrate ,he said since he is a victim while serving in the government, he has taken this ‘unusual’ step so that abductions and extra-judicial activities going on in the country can be debated in order to find a solution. He said if such incidents are left unchecked, it could plunge the country into chaos and anarchy.
The ex-Siakago legislator opined he felt obligated as a parent to reiterate the sentiments he expressed last week at a funeral in Embu after his earlier calls to security organs to address the matter were disregarded.
Muturi’s son was abducted while he was still serving in the Government as the Attorney General – where he was a senior member of the National Security Council. Despite his plea for the abductors, no answers were provided.
He said in the past, the Kanu regime and Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Government were accused of abductions and forced disappearances. However, today the public is accusing the regime of abductions and forced deaths mainly targeting the youth.
The CS pleaded with the regime to allow the youth to express what they have openly without any hindrance. “If youths have issues with the government that they want to raise, let us allow them to do so because that is what democracy is all about. We are a democratic country. It is our duty as government to ensure that everybody lives freely and is able to say what they think,” he said.
Muturi said when his son was abducted he reached out to everybody in the security sector and they all had no answers on the people doing the abductions. “I am not aware of any forces formed to abduct Kenyans, the government cannot be running and abducting its people,” he said.
The wave of abductions has sparked widespread public outcry with various bodies such as the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Kenya National Human Rights (KNHR), and several other local bodies condemning the matter.
The interesting thing about the abduction is why some top Government officials choose to call names instead of calling for investigation on the matter.
Speaking during the funeral of the mother of Speaker of National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, Secretary-general of the Central Organization of Trade Unions, Francis Atwoli, and Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa called names and even ridicule the parents whose children have been abducted.
That alone shows that instead of the Government addressing the issue, they become petty towards an issue, which has pained parents in the country.