On the evening of February 15, after a police raid on his residence, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga paid a visit to Fred Matiang’i, the former secretary of the interior. Odinga told the media that he stands with Matiang’i and that he should not back down in the face of what he termed a “political witch hunt” on the part of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Odinga told the former CS that he would stand in support with him, despite the fact that he had not yet talked to Matiang’i since the police raid. Odinga said that the police should not have entered Matiang’i’s home despite the fact that they had a court order to do so.
According to Odinga, the current circumstances surrounding the suspected detention of Matiang’i were reminiscent of the dictatorship era in which he was hounded for his political beliefs. Odinga alleged the government had disrespected a veteran who had served the country honorably.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations agents had earlier in the day gained access to Matiang’i’s home CCTV cameras, the DCI has revealed. Investigators from the police and forensics lab were present at the Karen home on February 8 to get to the bottom of the rumored raid. Since the DCI stated that no police force had been sent to Matiang’i’s house that night, the question of who the intruders were became more pressing.
Matiangi’s attorney Danstan Omari criticized the state’s conduct, saying that the state was out to settle political scores. He stated the police officers had broken into Matiang’i’s residence with force and had not shown the court order they had purported to have gotten.
“Neither the CS nor any other staff members were present. Upon our arrival, we demanded that they provide the court order and warned them not to proceed with anything until we had seen it. The commanding officer had no authority to issue a warrant, “Omari said to the media.
