The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has said that no officers from the agency were sent to former interior cabinet secretary Fred matiang'i's home.
Addressing the press on Thursday, February 9, DCI Boss Mohamed Amin noted that the alleged arrest was a false alarm.
"No officers from the DCI were deployed to find or arrest Dr. Matiang'i at his residence or anywhere else. For the record, I can confirm that none of the cases under investigation so far have reached the stage, which requires the assistance or attendance of Dr. Matiang'i.
"DCI treats the allegations of a raid into the home of Dr Matiang'i serious and has conducted an initial investigation into the matter," part of the statement read.
According to Mr. Amin, preliminary investigations indicate that there was a deliberate attempt to spread false information and incite public fear.
Read More
"According to our investigation, activity began building up at Dr. Matiang'i's home on Wednesday, 8th February 2023 at 8 PM Kenyan time. Initially, Dr. Matiang'i informed his guards that he was expecting guests, who were lawyers, and instructed them to grant access to his home upon their arrival. The lawyers arrived shortly after and proceeded to a meeting inside the house. They were joined shortly afterward by politicians led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. After another few minutes, the lawyers drove off in three vehicles, leaving three other cars in the compound.
"As they left, they informed the guards that they were going to address the press.At around 9.30pm, Mr Odinga and team left the home to go and join the lawyers in the Press Conference. Dr. Matiang'i then informed the guards that police would be arriving accompanied by the media to arrest him, and instructed them to allow the police access to the home but to lock out the media," Mr. Amin stated.
The DCI boss noted that ODM leader Raila Odinga's team alerted the media of the alleged raid at Matiang'i's home.
"The DCI confirms that this was a deliberate and malicious attempt to spread false information and incite fear, and is nothing more than the highest form of fake news. DCI will leave the media to its own self-introspection. In our view, it should hold itself accountable for its role in spreading this false information and should apologize to the public," he said.
Mr. Amin warned that DCI would not tolerate the purveyors of false information and will take firm and bold action against all those involved in this matter.
