Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki says he has the blessing of President William Ruto to deal with any political leaders within the ruling party UDA who might be abetting banditry in the north rift.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on National Cohesion on Wednesday, CS Kindiki said President Ruto is prepared to lose political support from such leaders.
“President William Ruto has told me that he is willing to lose political support and end this problem. If ending this problem will reduce his numbers in certain corners, he said he will take that and shape the country,” he said.
CS Kindiki said politicians in the opposition will not be spared either if found to be responsible for the bandit attacks.
“I have the blessing of the Commander in Chief to deal ruthlessly with any political leader who is aiding, abetting or supporting the terror in the north, even if they are in his political party. Even if they are in the opposition.
“The easier ones to deal with are the one’s in the president’s political party, but the ones in the opposition will start crying and talking about Kenya Kwanza and Azimio. I am not going to be drawn into that debate,” Kindiki stated.
The Minister insisted he won’t be drawn into politics to avoid conflicts of interest.
“For the last 120 days I have not talked any politics and I will not speak politics I am going to work with politicians because they are stakeholders…elected by the people and can help us get solutions. But up to where they are within the law, if you fall outside the law it doesn’t matter,” he said.
Kindiki noted that security officers had previously retreated from the battlefield due to the death of police officers, but there will be no more retreats.
“We will instead populate that area with enough security deployment, develop the area and stay there for good.”
