Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has dismissed claims by Deputy President William Ruto that the government is planning to shut down the internet during election elections.
Ruto made the allegation during a press briefing at his Karen office on Thursday, August 9.
He claimed the government was working with the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) to disrupt the internet and ensure Kenyans are kept in the dark about events during elections.
The DP also alleged that there was a plan to switch off electricity during elections to pave the way for the manipulation of votes.
However, addressing a presser on Friday, August 5, CS Matiang’i rubbished Ruto’s claims terming them “cheap and ridiculous”.
“I am not aware of any scheme or any effort to influence the Communication Authority of Kenya or any effort to influence the Kenya power to switch off electricity,
” Sometimes in a civilized world some of these claims I find them too cheap and too ridiculous to even think about, and when they come from senior leaders you sometimes don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The interior CS said Kenyans are mature and responsible citizens who can conduct themselves ethically without being censored by the government.
He added that the country had made tremendous progress in ICT and received global acclamation for creating enabling environment for the sector to thrive, and hence cannot backtrack on the achievement by engaging censorship.
“Kenya has taken its place in ICT globally, how do we resort to such petty things? Kenyans should ignore the claims with the contempt they deserve,
“We will do our bid, these are just frustrations, we are just on the receiving end of some people’s frustrations and anger,” said Matiang’i.
The CS also dismissed claims by Ruto that chiefs and other provincial administrators were being used by the state to plan chaos in Kenya Kwanza strongholds to suppress voter turnout.
“I have not given such instructions and I don’t know where they are coming from, maybe they can tell us. Our responsibility is defined by the law,
“We are working with fellow Kenyans to ensure we support IEBC to conduct a free and fair election,” he added.
