Matiang’i past returns to haunt State House run

A controversial past looms over former powerful Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i’s presidential bid as the 2027 race for the country’s top seat takes shape.

Controversies—including the deportation of lawyer Miguna Miguna, alleged involvement in the Sh1.5 billion Ruaraka land saga, and accusations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances during his tenure—have resurfaced and threaten to overshadow his ambitions.

The former CS is also seen as “a project” of former President Uhuru Kenyatta, with some critics claiming the new political move is a ploy to propel the former head of state back to power through proxy.

Uhuru’s Jubilee Party has announced Matiang’i as its presidential candidate.

Matiang’i is viewed as a formidable force within the opposition, with his credentials as a reformer being touted.

A section of the former CS’s allies have dismissed accusations against him, describing the other presidential contenders as “crooks”.

“We must understand that we do not have angels. We must stop pontificating as if we are looking for Jesus Christ,” said Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, while admitting that Matiang’i indeed made some mistakes, including the brutal deportation of Miguna.

Matiang’i faces mounting scrutiny over past allegations of human rights abuses – including torture and killings – and governance failures.

Political observers warn that these controversies may weigh heavily on his campaign, especially as human rights defenders and political rivals begin to take aim.

Political analyst Martin Andati argues that Matiang’i’s record raises serious concerns about his integrity, as outlined under Chapter Six of the constitution.

“If we are to follow Chapter Six [of the constitution] as it was envisaged, we wouldn’t have such candidates. Kenyans are not scrutinising those in power,” Andati said.

He added that Matiang’i must come clean on his role in the controversies to avoid carrying the burden of others.

Justice and Freedom Party deputy party leader Reuben Kigame was even more direct.

“He oversaw the mistreatment, abduction, and brutal deportation of Miguna Miguna—a citizen and legal mind from our country,” said Kigame, a former presidential candidate.

Kigame also criticised Matiang’i’s leadership in rolling out the Sh6 billion Huduma Namba project, which was later declared unconstitutional.

“...then just come back and tell the same citizens that you want to be the next president? There are many things I do not see, but these?” he added.

In August 2018, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission implicated Matiang’i and then Education PS Belio Kipsang in the Sh1.5 billion Ruaraka land scandal.

The commission faulted the two for disregarding a quality assurance report that found the land—where Ruaraka High School and Drive-Inn Primary School stand—was public property.

Businessman Francis Mburu was reportedly paid Sh1.5 billion for the land, which had been under government use for decades.

The Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee also linked Matiang’i, Kipsang, and then National Land Commission chairman Mohammed Swazuri to the scandal.

“The CS and PS be held responsible and further investigated, and if found culpable be prosecuted for occasioning the loss of Sh1.5 billion in line with Article 226(5) of the Constitution,” reads part of the report.

The Senator Moses Kajwang’-led committee criticised Matiang’i and Kipsang for ignoring the recommendations of a report of the ministry’s Quality Assurance and Standards Assessment that established the land was public.

However, the committee report was defeated on the floor.

Matiang’i also played a central role in the 2018 deportation of Miguna following the contested 2017 election and the symbolic swearing-in of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the “People’s President.”

A declaration signed by Matiang’i on February 6, 2018, authorised Miguna’s detention and deportation to Canada—despite several court orders against the move.

Justice George Odunga found Matiang’i, then Inspector General Joseph Boinnet, and Immigration chief Gordon Kihalangwa guilty of contempt for defying court orders.

“There is no immunity for impunity. No man is above the law. They cannot be allowed to catwalk around while disobeying court orders,” Justice Odunga said.

Matiang’i, once dubbed “Mr Fix-It” during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, is also under fire for the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that happened during his tenure as Interior CS.

Several Kenyans went missing under his watch, with mutilated bodies later found in forests and rivers—including the notorious River Yala in Siaya county.

Two Indian nationals and a Kenyan linked to Ruto’s presidential campaign also disappeared during the elections.

They were reportedly abducted on July 24, 2022, on Mombasa Road near Ole Sereni Hotel and driven away in a vehicle that did not have registration plates.

The Indian nationals were said to have been in the country as part of Ruto's IT team ahead of the August 9, 2022 general election.

According to a March 2023 report by Missing Voices, at least 40 bodies were retrieved from River Yala.

However, they were not included in the 152 recorded police killings in 2022, as investigations were still ongoing.

In January 2023, Amnesty International Kenya called for the urgent identification of 21 of those bodies.

President Ruto, in his early days in office, admitted the existence of a police unit that allegedly executed murders.

“The moment I assumed office, I disbanded the police squad that was carrying out these atrocities because I could not allow a situation where innocent Kenyans continued to be abducted and executed without accountability, and that is why I took action immediately,” he said.

Another controversy dogging Matiang’i is the rollout of the Huduma Namba, a digital identity programme later declared unconstitutional by the courts.

Though the government spent billions on the initiative, it was criticised as a white elephant project.

At the time, Matiang'i faulted the court, arguing the Huduma Card was essentially a collation of different identity documents already issued and certified by the government and its agencies.

“The decision to appeal is informed by the conviction that the High Court decision is based on a wrong interpretation of the essence and the practical intentions of Huduma Card,” Matiang’i said.

Despite the allegations, some observers believe the intense scrutiny could ironically fuel Matiang’i’s momentum.

University don Macharia Munene said, “If he is considered viable to run for president, then there will be even more accusations as the heat intensifies.”

However, former Mukurweini MP Kabando Wa Kabando said while Kenyans are hungry for truly national political parties, they are yet to get a truly transformational national leader embodying the values and ethos ascribed in the constitution.

“Even the 2024 bold Gen Z uprising has not produced such a leader yet,” Kabando said.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

Fred Matiang'i draws admiration and criticism arguably in equal measure. He came into the limelight in April 2013, when President Uhuru Kenyatta tapped him from the Centre for International Development and named him a minister in his first administration. He served as minister for ICT, Education and Interior. He would emerge as Uhuru’s ‘Mr Fix It” and a “Bulldozer” ending up as the chairperson of the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee: an almost “Super Minister” position. Whereas he was credited with reforms in the ICT and Education sectors, he was accused of arrogance, abrasiveness, high-handedness amid questions around abductions and extrajudicial killings.