The abductions fallout

The abductions puzzle has reared its head into President William Ruto's Cabinet with Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi being the latest to launch a scathing attack against the government her serves for failing to stop abductions. 

Last week, President Ruto's Economic advisor Moses Kuria said the abductions spree was a dangerous precedent being set in the country wondering why "someone within the administration would resort to sorting out issues in a way that is outside the law" to a country that he said prided itself of being as a bastion of democracy. 

During an interview on Citizen television on Wednesday night Kuria said “I have proclaimed myself privately within government circles. I have proclaimed myself publicly, in my social media posts, that I think that abductions are not the way to go. I don't know who is doing the abductions, but let me add a rider here, for me it doesn't matter who is doing,” he said 

Yesterday, Muturi in a candid press statement to media maintained that it was the cardinal duty of the state and the government to protect the lives and livelihood of its citizens.

He said the government of the day can not claim to be unaware of serious breaches of the rights of its citizens to live free from wrongful confinement and the violation of their inalienable right to life. 

Muturi took issue  with the statement by the Inspector General of Police that he did not know where the abductees are. 

" The government cannot be excused for abdicating its duty of protecting the lives and property of thepeople of Kenya," The Cs said.   

He added "Kenyans want to know how many of the youth have been taken since the abductions started, how many have been released, how many are still being held and where it is they are being held."  

While presenting himself as a victim of abductions after his son was kidnapped and held for days, Muturi recounted the harrowing ordeal experienced by parents whose children had been abducted. He added that it happened to him despite him being Attorney General. He said since that misfortune happened he has not been furnished with answers about who abducted his son and why.  

"I have personally suffered as my son was abducted and disappeared, I was not sure whether he was alive or dead, making us anxious and leaving me, my wife and my family in turmoil. It must be remembered that I was theAttorney General of the Republic of Kenya at the time, yet I was unable to trace my son despite making several requests and demands to all levels of the security apparatus," the Cs charged.  

He said it was interesting that the security sector said that they were not involved in the abductions, but failed to stop them as they are happening in full public glare. 

He reiterated his past remarks which he made on Friday last week in Embu that it was not possible for the government to say that it did not know anything about the abductions. He said that amounted to shunning its responsibility on accountability. 

“There can never be a situation where the government says it does not know what is happening. We must own up to our efficiency where they have been pointed out or where they have occurred. We cannot be here and talk about young souls that have been taken away all over and allege we do not know who has taken them. We cannot say we don’t know. We are the government,” Muturi said on Friday last week in Embu. He was attending the burial of Eric Mutugi son to former Embu Senator Leny Kivuti. 

Aware that his stand goes against cabinet traditions, Muturi maintained that he was fully  aware of the doctrine of collective responsibility, but  said he decided to address the matter because he had not gotten answers despite serving in the government. 

 "I have taken this unusual step so that the matter can be debated honesty and openly as country with a view to finding a lasting solution to this issue which if left unchecked has the potential to plunge the country into chaos and anarchy," he said.  

At the same time, Muturi, who is a member of the Democratic Party said he had joined the Kenya Kwanza coalition, against warnings from his political friends and colleagues, because he felt the principles KK stood for were in tandem with those of his own party.  

"One of the things we had accused the past regimes of was the existence of disappearances and extra-judicial killings and we vowed that we would never, under our watch condone or allow such. But today, there has been a number of abductions and in some cases, unexplained deaths since the Gen Z revolt in June last year. It isunfortunate as most of the people being abducted are our youth leaving parents and other family members in a state of confusion and loss," Muturi said.  

Muturi's bold remarks against the government he serves and Kuria's last week not only reflect a growing wave of dissent over the recent spate of abductions but also highlight an emerging divide within the Cabinet over the issue.  

Other government officials and the administration's apologists have either denied the existence of abductions or justified the vice laying blame on parents asking them to raise disciplined children.  

The president last month admitted existence of abductions and promised to stop the vice but urged parents to also "to take responsibility and take care of their children".  

“I want to ask every parent to take care of their children.... These children are God given to us and we must take responsibility.... We are going to stop the abductions so that our youth can live peacefully and my government is going to do its part to ensure even the youth are responsible enough so that together we build Kenya". 

But his Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen seemed to contradict the president as he claimed that no person had been killed by the police during Ruto's tenure. 

"Since President Ruto took the reins of office, there is no single citizen who has been killed by police, nor has there ever been a policy of killing people the way we used to see bodies in River Yala and others in River Tana. Since he took office in two years, nobody has been killed," said Murkomen. 

Murkomen’s statement contradicted damning reports from human rights groups and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, documenting deaths during anti-finance bill protests and the discovery of bodies across the country such as the the inquest into the killing of Rex Maasai, who was shot and killed on June 18 during the anti-finance bill protests.  

While Murkomen defended the government against the claims of extra judicial killings and abductions, Senate Speaker Amason  Kingi, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa and his Minority counterpart Junet Mohammed seemed to justify the kidnappings. They passed the ball to parents for allegedly failing to discipline their children.  

Kingi who spoke at a funeral in Bungoma last week said “In this country we must differentiate between lack of discipline and rule of democracy. Every Kenyan whether a child or an old person has the right to criticize the government but democracy has boundaries, if you go beyond them the law must follow you" He said and added  "You can criticize the policies of this government but you can’t get personal. The children who are misbehaving are in homes. If parents fail to discipline them, nature will and if nature follows your children don’t be the first one to scream".

Ichungwa said “We have seen people alleging they have been kidnapped only for them to show up out of political expediency. Those who allege to have been abducted should also be arrested and charged.

Junet seemed to blame the parents for allowing their children to criticize the government and said “You allow your children to draw images of leaders and put them in the coffin and when the action is taken you start crying and making noise. Why did you allow your children to commit the crime in the first place, having such images of people put in coffins is akin to killing them.