After months from the public eye, former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i resurfaced on Wednesday to answer accusations that he issued orders to shut down the Kenyatta University Campus in Kigali, Rwanda.
The former CS was last week summoned by the National Assembly's Public Investment Committee to answer the accusations levelled against him.
Matiang’i had earlier explained that he could not appear in person as he was currently in Washington DC, in the United States.
He was allowed to appear virtually before the committee to make his submissions on what transpired in Kigali that led to the taxpayer losing Ksh600 million.
Matiang’i clearing his name, noted that Paul Kagame’s administration made it hard for KU to operate in Rwanda.
“The campus was not closed on a motion of the government or the university management. They were closed by authority and regulators in Rwanda,” he exonerated himself from the saga.
An Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2019/20 showed that the government had pumped over Ksh420 million into the project.
Despite the millions pumped into the project, Kenya never received any economic benefit from the project.
Matiang’i was making a rare public appearance since March when the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropped charges they had levelled against him.
At the time, the DPP had availed evidence to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to charge the former CS with conspiracy to commit a felony and publication of false information.
DPP dropped the case after it ascertained the evidence collected did not meet the threshold needed to prove each of the charges as required by law.
It was not immediately clear if the former CS was residing in the US or had gone for a visit.
