The government has been sued following the recent downgrade of Deputy President William Ruto security detail that saw the General Service Unit (GSU) replaced with Administration Police (AP).
Two Kenyans on Tuesday, August 31, moved to the Milimani Law Courts challenging the instituted changes seeking to have the court declare them unconstitutional.
Miruru Waweru and Angela Mwikali argued that the changes will hamper the service delivery in the office of the Deputy President.
According to their petition, they want the court to issue an order compelling the return of GSU officers to Ruto's residences with immediate effect.
" The IG and GSU be and are hereby directed to, with immediate effect, return to their stations at the official or private offices and residences of the Deputy President, officers of the General Service Unit who until August 26, 2021 were deployed to protect the Deputy President in terms of Chapter 8 Section 5 (e) of the National Police Service Standing Orders pending the hearing of the application," the two petitioners stated.
The petitioners further argue that the move was politically instigated to create fear ahead of the 2022 General Election.
“The petitioners are apprehensive that the illegal actions of the respondents are politically instigated and are meant to create a state of fear in the build-up to the general elections scheduled for August 2022,” they stated.
Through their lawyer, they claim that the GSU officers had received special training to guard top officials unlike the AP officers assigned to Ruto.
The duo further want the government stopped from denying the DP use of his official residence and office designated for him.
Moreover,Waweru and Mwikali wants the court to issue and order police from disrupting,dispersing, or in any way whatsoever interfering with assemblies, gatherings, meetings (public or private) or any functions (public or private) organised and or attended by the Deputy President.
The move to sue the government comes despite Ruto maintaining that he had no issue with the new security team assigned to him.
On Tuesday, August 31, Ruto maintained that the security changes were a non-issue while responding to reports that Members of the National Assembly had summoned Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i over the changes.
Ruto insisted that summoning CS Matiang'i was a waste of time and that MPs should focus on addressing other pressing issues.
"Parliamentary time should not be wasted on non-issues. The AP is a professional security service and those who think it's a downgrade are wrong. Parliament should instead focus on deployment to serious situations in areas where bandits are causing mayhem and destruction," Ruto stated.
Interior CS was summoned to appear before the parliamentary committee on Wednesday, September 1, following the change in Ruto's security detail.
The Security Committee Chairman Peter Mwathi said that Matiang'i was expected to explain the changes while accompanied by Interior Principal Secretary, Karanja Kibicho, and Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai.
“We want them to shed light on whether the action they took is within the law, and if not, we will have no option but to ensure that the law is followed,” noted Mwathi.
