Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has broken his silence on some of the most puzzling deaths that took place during his tenure, including the death of the former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ICT boss, Chris Msando.
Matiang'i, who spoke on Tuesday evening during an interview with Citizen TV, said that at the time of his exit from the government, Msando's murder was still under probe by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
According to the former Interior CS, despite several attempts to trace the progress of the investigations, the DCI kept telling him that Msando's file was still open.
He noted that at the time of his exit, the detectives were also pursuing several other similar cases, including the murder of Jacob Juma, which he said was still under investigation to date.
"The incident was reported, and I know it the way you know it, that an official of IEBC was killed. The investigations were going on. Every time the issue comes up, I keep saying, Why don’t we have a public inquiry on this matter?" Matiang'i questioned.
"There were several cases, such as Jacob Juma, that were also under investigation. The DCI kept saying the file is still open; even if you're the President, there's nothing you can do," he added.
River Yala Bodies
Concerning the River Yala killings, in which over 30 bodies were discovered, Matiang'i noted that the matter was escalated to the then Inspector General of Police, Hilary Mutyambai, who informed him that they needed the kin of the victims to assist in the probe.
Matiang'i noted that Mutyambai told him they needed the families of the victims to positively identify their relatives for faster investigations.
He further reiterated that by the time he was leaving office, the case files of the victims were still open, and it was up to the current administration to follow up on the matter.
"We asked IG Mutyambai what was happening at that time. We agreed that the gravity of the situation is such that the DCI himself should go to that place and find out what is happening," he stated.
Matiang'i went on to add, "When they came back, they were asked for an inquest. By the time we were leaving government, the file was opened. I didn’t leave with the file."
According to the former CS, the best way to deal with the past mysterious deaths was to conduct a public inquest so that people who were in the security sector at the time could provide information regarding the matter.
