Matiangi mourns Ruto’s Chief of Staff he once rebuked for ‘juvenile activism’ as a friend » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 11 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matinagi has mourned the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy President as a friend.

“I have known Amb. Osinde for many years as a friend and as a contemporary in academia and the Public Service,” Matiangi said in a condolence note mourning Amb. Ken Osinde who died on Friday.

Osinde was appointed as the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy President in 2016/FILE

The Cabinet Secretary who once rebuked Osinde over what he described as “juvenile activism” after he wrote a letter seeking clarity on a decision to downscale security deployed to Ruto’s residences including the official residence in Karen said he was “utterly confounded and shocked.”

Matiangi went on to state that for the duration he had known Osinde, the career diplomat never exhibited sickness or ill health.

“Indeed, his life has been a portrait of robust health. His devotion to a rigorous personal fitness regime is public knowledge,” he added.

While making comments on Osinde’s three-page letter at the time, Matiangi faulted Osinde’s approach saying he should instead have engaged Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua on the matter instead of writing the letter.

“Where in this world would a holder of an office of Chief of Staff in a senior office like that write a letter and put in on social media before it even reaches the Inspector General of Police?” he posed during parliamentary inquiry on September 1.

“This issue has been characterized by some very juvenile activism, petty propagandism and the facts are lost in the process. That is why you’ve noticed that there hasn’t been any correspondence from any of us,” he told a parliamentary committee on security.

September 1, 2021 | Citizen Services Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho (left) and Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi (right) appear before a parliamentary committee on security/Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government

In a strongly worded letter dated August 26, Osinde said the ODP “rejects arbitrary and suspicious deployment of personnel in a security arrangement laced with illegality and fraud.”

“This office demands the reinstatement of the GSU as provided by law to continue their lawful mandate at the Deputy President’s residence,” Osinde stated warning that the Inspector General of Police will be held personally responsible should any harm befall Ruto or any member of his family.

Osinde’s letter surfaced on the same day police officers from an elite company of the General Service Unit (GSU) was withdrawn without prior notice and replaced with Administration Police officers from a unit tasked with securing government infrastructure.

Ruto latter dropped the demands saying he was comfortable with any regiment of the police and could in fact take private security should the State feel the need to redeploy the newly assigned officers.

Days later his office shared footage in which he was seen having a chat with the newly deployed officers over a cup of tea within the State residence in Karen.

August 30, 2021 | DP William Ruto takes tea with AP officers deployed to his Karen residence following the withdrawal of GSU officers in escalating fallout with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

August 30, 2021 | Deputy President William Ruto meets newly deployed Administration Police at his official residence in Karen/DPPS