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Revelations by the interior cabinet secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi when he appeared before the parliamentary committee on security that the Deputy President Hon. William Ruto is guarded by 257 security officers has elicited mixed reactions with the Lugari MP Ayub Savula.
Questioning the rational applied in the deployment of a high number of security officers to VIPs in a country struggling to attain the UN recommend personnel-to -population ratio of 1:450.
Speaking in Nairobi, the ANC Deputy Party leader said its time security personnel attached to VIPs is reduced, arguing that the move amounts to misuse of taxpayers money meant to safeguard the Mwanainchi.
Savula took a swipe at the deputy president and his allies over their complain after police bosses redeployed GSU officers guarding the DPs home and replaced them with APs, saying their cries are meant to seek public empathy over an issue that is of no benefit to the mwanainchi who is already struggling with high taxes, unemployment, insecurity and runaway corruption that has deprived them of quality government services.
The second term Legislature spoke during a fund drive to aid in the burial arrangements of the late Captain (Rtd) Macleans Ganza Sloya at the United Kenya Club in Nairobi.
Before his demise, the late Macleans was aspiring for the Sabatia constituency parliamentary seat in the forthcoming general elections.
Last week, GSU officers manning the DP’s official residence in Karen and his private homes in Nairobi and Uasin Gishu were withdrawn and replaced with administration police officers in what was seen as a downgrade of his security detail.
Ruto’s allies protested the move, demanding the government reinstate the GSU officers. However, on Wednesday, Matiang’i insisted that only state lodges and state houses are manned by GSU.
DP’s residences, he noted, are not categorised as protected areas.
Ruto’s office, through communication secretary David Mugonyi, yesterday disputed Matiang’i’s explanation, questioning why the elite officers had been deployed there since 2013.
“The realisation nine years after the fact, in the context of many other orchestrated political events, schemes and machinations against the DP clearly indicate that Matiang’i was acting in explicit pursuit of a malevolent political agenda,” Mugonyi said.
But Matiang’i had termed the changes normal routine operations, allaying fears of any threat to Ruto’s security. He said the DP’s security is multi-layered, with the inner layer having 74 officers drawn from the elite Presidential Escort Unit.
This has remained intact and has not been affected by last week’s reorganisation, the CS said.
The inner team is responsible for the personal security of the DP on a daily basis and is reinforced with a further five highly trained GSU officers and six special officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Matiang’i said layer two, which is responsible for the round-the-clock guarding of the DP’s residences, offices and private properties, has a security strength of 121 officers.
“Currently, 121 officers from the Administration Police and Prisons Services are providing security at the DP’s various residences. In addition to the 74 Presidential Escort personnel, six officers from the DCI and five drivers from the GSU are deployed,” Matiang’i told MPs.
The CS said Ruto enjoys the services of a further 51 officers from various police units deployed in other properties he owns.
“Contrary to the allegations made in view of the tabled evidence, the Deputy President is the most guarded in the history of the country in comparison with previous equivalent officeholders,” Matiang’i said
