NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 2 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has criticized former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over claims that he has been receiving information from intelligence and security officers linked to the Presidency.
Murkomen accused the DCP leader of exploiting national security issues for political mileage, maintaining that matters relating to the country’s security should never be politicized.
He dismissed Gachagua’s claims of receiving insider intelligence briefings as false, reckless and misleading, speaking during a church service in Uasin Gishu County attended by President William Ruto on Sunday.
“The safety and security of the people of Kenya cannot be used to do politics. I hear some leader saying he has been told by intelligence officers, trying to posture as though he is connecting rumors around the country. Shame on you, and we are not going to allow you to continue spreading lies.”
“He said he had been told by the DCI that the President was going to unveil Vision 2060. All of that are lies because that information was already in the public domain. He is trying to appear as though he is running some clandestine security sector.”
The Interior CS further described Gachagua as “the most irresponsible leader” to have occupied one of the country’s highest offices, accusing him of disparaging the country’s security agencies through repeated public statements.
Murkomen maintained that Kenya’s intelligence and security institutions must remain professional and non-partisan, warning against what he termed attempts to erode public confidence in the country’s security architecture.
Murkomen’s remarks come after Gachagua claimed on several occasions that he had received tip-offs from senior officers within the Presidency and the security establishment regarding President William Ruto’s plans.
This including advance information on the President’s State of the Nation Address in which he unveiled the Vision 2060 development blueprint.
The former Deputy President has also previously alleged that sympathetic intelligence officers had been keeping him informed of sensitive government plans and security operations, claims that government officials have consistently dismissed.
