DP death threat: Focus now turns to Ruto’s aides

The mystery of the alleged plot to assassinate Deputy President William Ruto deepened Thursday, with detectives training their eyes on the people around the DP.

Investigators want to establish whether the purported letter that started the saga came from them.

They believe that people sympathetic or allied to the Deputy President might have generated the letter to create the impression that his life was in danger.

BLOGGERS

They have narrowed their focus to bloggers and some of the hangers-on around Mr Ruto.

The letter, dated May 30, 2019, claimed that a meeting had been convened at Hotel La Mada to discuss how to “shore up support for the President in Mt Kenya and its diaspora”.

While the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is seeking help from American investigators to probe the origins of the letter, there is still uncertainty on whether there is a real threat to the life of the Deputy President or if this is merely a political gimmick taken too far.

The doubts arose after it emerged that no such letter had been sent to State House, as its registry does not have it in hard copy.

The Deputy President, who is at the centre of the storm, yesterday maintained his studious silence over the matter.

DISAPPOINTED

Journalists invited to his Karen office were disappointed when the DP refused to field questions after a conference on female genital mutilation.

After his speech, Mr Ruto waved to reporters before retreating into the building that houses his office.

Moments later, his security personnel ordered them out of the premises. But while the DP has chosen to be silent, his allies have not.

Meanwhile, Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho dismissed as false reports that he had recorded a statement at the DCI on claims he was being harassed.

Dr Kibicho for the first time spoke out on the matter in which his name has been adversely mentioned, terming the allegations spurious and unworthy of his time.

SHOCKED

The PS had been said to have complained to the DCI that the Deputy President was harassing him. He said he was equally shocked about the reports.

READ: I initiated La Mada meetings, says MP Moses Kuria

“It is utter nonsense,” Dr Kibicho told the Nation. “I have not made any complaint to anyone. There are people out there hawking falsehoods and they will be embarrassed,” he said.

Dr Kibicho’s comments are likely to further increase tensions between the two Harambee Houses — Annex, which houses the DP’s city centre office, and the Office of the President, which houses the Interior ministry.

Mr Ruto’s allies have consistently accused the Interior PS of being behind attempts to cut the DP down to size.

SECURITY

They claim that it is this attempt to manage the DP’s political influence that has seen county commissioners miss some of Mr Ruto’s events or a failure by the State to provide security at other functions.

As a result, detectives have decided to focus their energies on who wrote the purported letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta claiming that four Cabinet secretaries and Dr Kibicho had met to talk about assassinating Mr Ruto.

And to raise the bar of impartiality, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji told MPs that the government had chosen to engage the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to rule out any perceived bias.

“We have been accused before of being biased in our work. We decided to bring an independent body to carry out investigations and identify the people who authored the suspicious letter and the origin of the allegations,” said Mr Haji.

SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS

The FBI, Mr Haji said, is better equipped with skills and expertise to undertake an independent investigation on the serious allegations of an assassination plot targeting the DP.

“We will get an independent report so that we are not accused of dishonesty,” added Mr Haji.

READ: Mt Kenya ministers, CEOs meet under cloud of Ruto 'murder' plot

By Thursday, officers from the DCI were yet to visit Hotel La Mada, the venue of the purported meeting between Cabinet secretaries Peter Munya, Sicily Kariuki, James Macharia and Joe Mucheru.

“They (police) are yet to come here,” workers at the hotel on Thika road told Nation.

And with the Deputy President having not written a statement to date about the claims, detectives believe that identifying the source of the letter will help unlock the mystery that has further strained relations within the Jubilee Party.