Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has defended Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua's claims of looting within the Kenya Kwanza government.
Speaking on Tuesday, during a meeting with other opposition leaders ahead of Gachagua's return, Matiang'i claimed that the former Deputy President was receiving unwarranted persecution by the government, even though everything he had talked about was true and supposedly substantiated by two international publications.
"What is happening here is looting, it's not corruption. Massive looting of the country is happening, and we are just watching, but we should start resisting. When people like Rigathi start talking about it, they start getting arrest threats," Matiang'i claimed
Specifically highlighting the report that the Kenyan government allegedly facilitated the sale of the arms to the neighbouring Sudan, Matiang'i claimed that the government's silence on the matter was an indication that there might have been some truth to the matter.
"Now they are just threatening to arrest Gachagua. Things become criminal when they come out of Rigathi's mouth. They should stop thinking that Kenyans are foolish. They are the same people who told us there are no more fools in Kenya," he added.
He further urged Kenyans to resist the looting regime and speak out despite the arrest claims that Gachagua was getting for exposing the same.
He emphasised that it was paramount to take the issue seriously, asserting that looting was worse than graft, as some economies have survived corruption but none have survived looting.
"Some countries can survive corruption, and some institutions can survive corruption, but I don't know of a country that can survive looting," he said.
While on his trip in the United States last week, Gachagua made several damning claims against the Kenya Kwanza government, including the alleged embezzlement of government funds.
However, his claims that President William Ruto had met with three Al Shabaab militants in Mandera were the worst-received, as arrest threats followed soon after.
More specifically, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen directed that Gachagua record a statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on his return to Kenya, as the claims were damning.
In a rejoinder, Gachagua relayed that he would not be doing that, and a few days later, he announced that he would be cutting short his American trip and coming back to Kenya to prepare for the November 27 by-elections. He is expected in the country on Thursday, August 21.
