Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has urged the former Interior Cabinet secretary, Fred Matiang'i, to apologise to the outspoken lawyer Miguna Miguna following his deportation from the country eight years ago.
Speaking during a show with NTV on Monday, April 5, the Senator stressed that the former CS should be given a chance to also give a detailed explanation on the circumstances that led to the deportation of the lawyer.
"I have said this publicly before; I think he mishandled the Miguna scenario, and I have also said publicly that Miguna deserves an apology from him unequivocally, and I think that it is important for him to explain the circumstances under which those decisions were made," he stated.
Miguna Miguna was exiled to Canada in 2018 after he was charged with treason-related offences following the mock swearing-in of ODM leader Raila Odinga as the People's President at Uhuru Park, Nairobi.
During an interview on April 17, 2022, Matiang'i, who was then the Interior CS, claimed that Miguna had lost his citizenship by virtue of the old Constitution, which prevented Kenyans from being citizens of more than one country.
Miguna came back to the country in October 2022, two months after President William Ruto took office as the Head of State.
On the other hand, Onyonka further claimed some of the accusations made against Matiang'i, who announced his presidential bid last week, are 'hypothetical' and do not disqualify him from running for presidency come the general polls in 2027.
"I am not saying that Fred is an angel; what I am saying is that if you look and compare the people that we have and those in administration, some things that those in administration have done are unthinkable," he stated.
The Senator has, however, noted that it is also important to thoroughly scrutinise Matiang'i and hold him accountable if he engaged in any irregularities during his tenure as the interior CS. Onyonka has, however, stressed that the CS is 'innocent until proven guilty'
"I am not saying that we should not interrogate Matiang'i. What I'm trying to say is that we reduced the threshold to the level that we accepted that somebody is innocent until he is proven guilty. It is still Matiang'i's responsibility to be accountable and answerable, and he will be explaining to Kenyans why those things happened if they did happen," he stated.
"Does that disqualify him from being the president? I say no because show me one of the guys running for president who has a better or worse record; we are nearly all the same; many are crooks," he added.
The former CS, who served in Uhuru Kenyatta's regime, announced his plans to challenge President William Ruto in the 2027 General Election on the Jubilee Party ticket.
Matiang'i, who spoke during his first rally in Kisii on Friday, May 5, stated that he will tour different parts of the country to rally Kenyans to support his bid.
