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A Kenyan government minister has claimed that the country’s national intelligence agency was behind the kidnapping of his son last year, as criticism of a rise in kidnappings continues.
Civil Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi said it took a call from President William Ruto to get his son released by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Muturi is the first cabinet member to publicly criticize the government’s handling of Kenya’s kidnapping spree.
In a statement to the police’s Crime Investigation Unit on Tuesday, Muturi detailed how his son Leslie was abducted on June 22 last year.
Mr Ruto and the intelligence community have not commented on his allegations.
According to a state-funded human rights group, at least 80 people, including the minister’s son, have been abducted over the past six months.
The wave of kidnappings began after protests against tax increases last June and has continued ever since.
Some of the abductees were released under public pressure.
Earlier this week, the minister told reporters that he had received no answers about his son’s abduction despite reaching out to higher-ups.
Muturi said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) subsequently urged him to record a statement with them, saying the matter was still being investigated.
In his statement to the DCI, Muturi recalled calling the Inspector General of Police, the Home Secretary, the DCI chief, the head of the intelligence agency and other top officials as he desperately searched for his son – but, he added, all were unable to help.
He said he also sent a message to Ruto but later decided to visit his official residence to raise the issue directly with him.
“I then told (the president) about the ordeal, including my communications with various high-ranking government officials who were unable to help. I expressed my belief that the NIS is holding my son,” Muturi said in a statement.
According to him, the president joked about this topic, and then called the head of the special service, who promised to release his son in an hour.
“I heard the president ask (NIS director) Noordin Haji if he is holding my son. (He) confirmed that he is indeed holding my son and the president instructed him to release Leslie immediately,” Muturi added.
Muturi has faced calls from some government allies to resign for publicly criticizing the government he serves.
Foreign nationals have also been abducted, including prominent Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai, who on Monday described how she was abducted by gunmen and released hours later.
Last year, Ugandan opposition leader Keiza Besigye was abducted in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, allegedly by Ugandan security forces, and brought across the border to be tried by a military court.
