Police are being used to bully & intimidate Senators - DP William Ruto

Police are being used to bully & intimidate Senators - DP Ruto

Tony Mukere

August 18, 2020 4:27 PM

This is not the reason why millions woke up early to vote for us

Police are being used to bully & intimidate Senators - DP William Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday made a rare attack on the Police which he accused of being used to bully and intimidate Senators over their stand on the Counties Revenue Allocation debate.

The Deputy President became the highest-ranking government official to connect the arrest of three Senators on Monday to their position on the revenue formula.

"The bipartisan Senate Committee to build WIN-WIN consensus is great wisdom and leadership.The abuse of police&criminal justice to bully citizens,threaten & intimidate leaders and now blackmail senate is WRONG. VERY WRONG. It's NOT the reason millions woke up early to vote for us," the DP said.

The three Senators included Christopher Lagat of Bomet who was arrested for allegedly organizing Kipsigis youths to attack the neighboring Maasai community.

Dr Steve Lelengwe of Samburu was also arrested for allegedly inciting violence in Samburu North while Kakamega Senators Cleophas Malala was arrested for holding a public baraza against the government's Covid19 regulations.

DPP Noordin Haji has since dropped the charges against Malala while his two colleagues have been released but their cases remain pending.

Ruto praised the Senate for forming a twelve-member committee to consolidate divergent views on the matter and come up with the formula.

The DP's terse statement came shortly after ODM Leader Raila Odinga made a rather neutral statement which blamed both the Senate and the Executive arm of government for the standoff in the Senate.

Raila said some Senators were pursuing other selfish interests while debating the revenue formula but added that it was wrong for the state to use force to push its agenda in the agenda.

"The twin sins of failing integrity among a section of elected representatives during this whole affair and the instinct by agents of the State to resort to strong arm measures to get things accomplished continue to hold our country back, reducing our citizens to mere watchers in dramas whose scripts are written far from public eyes," Odinga said in a statement.

Tony Mukere