Matiang'i let go after 'grilling' at DCI headquarters over home raid

Former Interior CS Fred Matiangi (centre) at the DCI headquarters. Matiang'i remained at the DCI interrogation room for eight hours in the company of his lawyers. [Collins Kweyu, Standard] Six months ago, on an ordinary day like yesterday, March 7, 2023,former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i would be holed in a high-level security meeting at the Office of the President. Or he would be briefing the head of state on some important government matter he had been tasked to supervise. However, on Tuesday the former powerful CS found himself in an unfamiliar territory. Dr Matiang'i spent the better part of the day at the DCI headquarters, Kiambu Road, where he had been summoned to shed light on the alleged raid at his Karen home. At exactly 8.15am, the CS in the company of his lawyers and handlers were at the gates of DCI's Kiambu Road headquarters. Unlike before when police officers would have been deployed to clear the traffic for their boss, Matiang'i had to endure the traffic jam like other motorists. It took some of his handlers and lawyers to try and direct traffic to facilitate the movement of the former CS into the complex. After getting into the DCI complex, unlike in the past when he would have been met by a team of senior DCI bosses all saluting at him, the situation was different yesterday. There were no salutes or a red carpet for him. Matiang'i remained at the DCI interrogation room for eight hours in the company of his lawyers. Outside the DCI gates, a group of supporters who had accompanied the CS were locked out of the DCI compound. The handful youths, some on boda bodas, were there to give moral support to the former CS as he sought to clear his name over allegations that he had given false information to the authorities. At around 4.15pm, Matiang'i emerged out of the DCI complex in the company of his lawyers Danstan Omari and Okong'o Omogeni. Fred Matiang'i emerges out of the DCI complex in the company of his lawyers. .[Collins Kweyu, Standard] Former CS Eugene Wamalwa was also among the former Cabinet colleagues who had accompanied Matiang'i for interrogation. The lawyers told journalists that the CS had been allowed to leave even after he declined to answer questions. Omari said the lawyers had advised the ex-CS to remain silent after the investigators deviated from the reasons they had summoned Matiang'i. "It's like they were on a fishing mission and at this point we advised the ex-CS to exercise his constitutional right of silence," said Omari. He said the police had already drawn a charge sheet indicating that Matiang'i would face charges that included conspiracy to commit a felony. According to a draft charge sheet shared by the ex-Cs lawyers, Matiang'i was also likely to face another count of publishing false information with intent to cause panic. Omari said despite spending a lot of time inside the DCI complex, the police took less than 15 minutes to conclude questioning Matiang'i. He claimed that the rest of the time, the police kept them waiting as they consulted their superiors on the next course of action. Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, a lawyer, also accompanied the former Cs for interrogation. Amollo told journalist that the summons by the police on Matiang'i were a witch-hunt and vendetta. There was drama outside the DCI headquarters after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was blocked from entering the DCI complex where Matiang'i was being held. Raila was accompanied by among others Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.

Matiang'i let go after 'grilling' at DCI headquarters over home raid

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