Interior Cabinet Secretary nominee Kithure Kindiki has pledged to prioritize tackling North Rift insecurity should he get the nod to be in charge of the docket.
Kindiki was nominated by President William Ruto to be in charge of the Ministry under which security function falls.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Appointment, the former Tharaka Nithi Senator said he was up to task with handling internal the security issues of the country.
“I assure Kenyans that I will make whatever sacrifices that need to be made, I will stay focused until the banditry problem is over. Even if it means going to live in the North Rift,” he said.
For several decades, North Rift has faced a challenge of insecurity whose root cause has been named to be cattle rustling and fight over resources and boundary disputes.
Speak less
But as a nominee under which the matter falls, Kindiki insists it will be business unusual with him in charge.
“We will speak less because security does not require speaking,” he said.
Kindiki, a soft-spoken lawyer by profession, if approved, will be taking over the powerful docket from Dr Fred Matiang’i.
Past operations against bandits and criminals have faced criticisms of human rights violations, but the Interior and National Coordination nominee says he will handle the matter firmly, but within the legal provisions.
“We will respect human rights but criminals have to be faced like criminals period. Crimes have no ethnicity and are not political,” he said.
He added that, “A politician who has committed a crime is a criminal, a lawyer who is committing a crime is a criminal and so is a doctor.”
The Committee on Appointment chaired by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has from Monday been vetting various nominees to the cabinet.
Once the vetting process completes, the committee will retreat to draft a report that will be submitted to the National Assembly for debate and subsequent approval or rejection of the nominees.
