Police Wanted To Plant Evidence In Matiang'i's House- Raila

Azimio la Umoja coalition leader, Raila Odinga, has claimed that the police officers who raided the Karen, Nairobi residence of former Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i wanted to plant evidence to frame him.

Speaking on Friday, February 17 during the Azimio rally in Kisii County, Raila came to the defence of Matiang'i, affirming that he would sacrifice his life to save him and to stop the President William Ruto-led government from bringing about a dictatorship regime.

He further alleged that the police officers who invaded Matiang'i's residence twice in the space of a week wanted to set him up by planting evidence that they would rely on during their future arrests against him.

"I told Matiang'i to stand firm, I'll die for you. We don't want those people (Kenya Kwanza) to return the country to the darkness that we came from, we cannot let injustice and authoritarian leadership prevail.

"They started hunting down Matiang'i at his house, that they are looking for evidence. If you are looking to accuse someone, you already have the evidence, not that you're going to look for it in his house. They wanted to plant evidence in Matiang'i's house so that they arrest him later," Raila claimed.

Raila on Wednesday, February 15 visited Matiang'i's home after the police raid, stating that he was yet to hear from him.

The Azimio leader told the media that he would stand by the former CS despite his tribulations and termed the police raid as the result of a political witch hunt by the Kenya Kwanza regime.

Raila also accused the police of defying a court order which had initially barred them from accessing the premises alongside the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), arguing that the state was demeaning a man of stature such as Matiang'i, who served the country in a top position.

Police officers had for the second time in a week raided Matiang'i's home in Karen, with eight DCI vehicles spotted at the compound during an operation which was supposedly meant to retrieve CCTV footage.

"They arrested the watchman when he tried to raise alarm over the raid on former CS Matiangi's home," Matiangi's lawyer Dunstan Omari claimed while confirming the raid, adding that the police officers acted against a court order which barred the investigators from forcefully retrieving the CCTV footage.

On his part, the security guard who only identified himself as Edgar alleged that officers forced their way into the premises after he refused to open the gate, breaking it down and then capturing him before bundling him into a car.

"They came in and threw me into the boot of one of the cars and locked me inside for an hour then released me. They did not tell me anything save for one of the officers who asked me if the boss was in but I told him he was not," he explained while concealing his identity with a pair of glasses and a face mask.

Omari further noted that the police officers sneaked in unknowingly and ransacked the house and refused to present to him a court order, a matter which made Omari bar them from continuing their search.

He further added that the officers dismantled the CCTV footage before vacating the premises, thirty minutes after the media arrived at the scene.

Lawyer Dunstan Omari at ex-CS Fred Matiang'i's home on February 15, 2023. /CITIZEN TV