Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, on Sunday, September 22, was involved in an animated public exchange with Kericho Senator, Aaron Cheruiyot.
Speaking at Kerumbe farm, Nyamira county, during the funeral of the late Stephen Mogeni, a local tycoon who had invested immensely in the tea sector, the senator claimed that Matiang'i secretly sought the help of Deputy President William Ruto in a bid to stop an impeachment motion tabled against him by ODM party politicians, the Daily Nation reported.
“I was summoned by the DP to his office who was in the company of the Interior CS. Ruto then asked me what was going on (in the Senate). I later called all Jubilee lawmakers and that was the end of the planned impeachment,” Mr Cheruiyot narrated.
The Kericho senator went on to claim that the move to impeach CS Matiang'i happened six months ago, adding that it was engineered and led by Homa Bay Senator, Moses Otieno Kajwang.
However, the visibly angered took to the podium and categorically denied having met with DP Ruto, going on to give Cheruiyot an earful about lying to the people for cheap political mileage.
“I have never been in the DP's office, neither have I met him, let us stop lying in church. The lies people spread in public forums must stop,” the Interior CS announced during his address to the mourners.
The two were among a handful of Gusii leaders who had gathered to give the deceased tycoon his final farewell.
Others present were Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni and his Kisii counterpart Prof Sam Ongeri, as well Governors John Nyagarama and James Ongwae of Nyamira and Kisii respectively.
They all vowed to back Matiang'i in all his future undertakings, further cementing the theory that the powerful CS is viewed as the leader of the Gusii community.
Here's a short clip of the public spat between Matiang'i and the Kericho senator:
