"WAZIRI, DR FRED OKENG’O MATIANG’I, YOU ARE A THIEF," says Itumbi

"WAZIRI, DR FRED OKENG’O MATIANG’I, YOU ARE A THIEF," reiterates Dennis Itumbi in regards to the Ruaraka land saga involving Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

Through his twitter account, Itumbi shared his first formal response to CS Matiang'i who had on Wednesday, August 11 threatened to sue the former State House Communications Director for defamation.

The CS through his lawyer V.A Nyamodi & Advocates in a demand letter dated wanted Itumbi to pull down several tweets referring to the CS as “the Ruaraka Land Thief” and “the Ruaraka Thief”.

Itumbi's responded by saying, "as a civic-minded and engaged citizen, as a taxpayer, and, most critically, as an investigative journalist,

I have expended time and resources to get to the bottom of the matter to enlighten the public on this grand heist, which was undertaken with your grand blessings."

Ruaraka land saga

In June 29 2019, the High Court ruled that the National Lands Commission (NLC) misled the Ministry of Education to release Sh1.5 billion to acquire the parcel of land in Ruaraka where two schools are built.

Justices Bernard Eboso, Elijah Obaga and Kossy Bor of the Environment and Land Court ruled that the 13.5-acre land where Ruaraka High School and Drive Inn Primary School were built is public land.

The suit was filed by the NLC in August 2018, seeking the court’s determination on whether the land was public or private after questions emerged on their recommendations to the Ministry of Education to pay Francis Mburu and his company, Afrison Export Ltd, Sh3.2 billion.

In November 2020, Itumbi sought to prosecute Matiang’i over the irregular acquisition of what came to be known as the Ruaraka Primary School land when he was Education Cabinet Secretary.

He was prosecuting the Interior CS on four counts of abuse of office and corruption related charges.

FILE: Francis Mburu owner of Ruaraka land arrested in Nairobi but was later released. ece-auto-gen

The charges included abuse of office, willful failure to comply with the law relating to the management of public funds, committing an offence of financial misconduct and conspiracy to defraud.

In November 2018, the Senate shot down a report recommending investigations and prosecution of Matiang’i, former Education Permanent Secretary Dr. Belio Kipsang and top NLC officials.

Itumbi also revealed that he shall not rest until Matiang'i is arraigned in court to answer for the alleged fraudulent purchase of the land in Ruaraka.

"My application was dismissed on technicalities and I am in the process of initiating yet another application for leave to undertake actions in the public interest to ensure that you have your day in court," said Itumbi.