Al Jazeera English ‘Head to Head' interview with Kimani Ichung'wah, the Majority leader of the Kenyan National Assembly

Al Jazeera

27-02-2025

Kimani Ichung'wah, the Majority leader of the Kenyan National Assembly and member of parliament, has labelled allegations that the police kidnapped and forcibly disappeared protesters in recent large scale demonstrations 'a conspiracy'.
'I do not believe there are enforced disappearances perpetuated by the state in Kenya,' Ichung'wah told Head to Head host Mehdi Hasan in front of a live audience at London's Conway Hall.
Ichung'wah, a close ally of President Ruto, was asked to address violent crackdowns against demonstrators by Kenyan police and security services, particularly in June 2024 when thousands of young Kenyans took to the streets in protest of the governments' Finance Bill. According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, since Ruto took office in 2022 there have been at least 63 civilian deaths, 65 forced disappearances, and over 1,400 unlawful detentions of protesters.
Ichung'wah was pressed further by host Mehdi Hasan on specific allegations, including from former Attorney General Justin Muturi who says that his son was abducted by the National Security Services after joining the 2024 protests and eventually released after President Ruto intervened.
'I tell you emphatically he has reasons to lie,' Ichung'wah said. 'He's playing politics with a very unfortunate incident.'
Ichung'wah went on to state that Muturi, who is now serving as Cabinet Secretary of Public Service and Human Capital Development, might soon be out of a job.
'Justin Muturi knows he's probably on his way out, Ichung'wah said. 'He definitely knows it.'
During the interview, Ichung'wah was also asked to clarify his personal net worth after Junet Mohamed, the minority leader in Kenyan parliament, joked that he was worth 5 billion shillings or $38 million US dollars.
'Not 5 billion,' he said. 'Probably about close to 1 billion.'
On the widespread criticism of Kenyan MPs flaunting their wealth online, Ichung'wah said, 'It's rather unfortunate. Nobody should do that'.
'Members of parliament in my party in the House who I see flaunting things that are not palatable with Kenyans, I tell them, 'Hey bro, this is not good,' he added.
Hasan and Ichung'wah are joined by a panel of three experts:
Awino Okech, Professor of Feminist and Security Studies at University of London-SOAS; Irungu Houghton, Executive Director of Amnesty International Kenya and Moses Langat, Kenya Community Leader in the Diaspora based in the UK.