NAIROBI, Kenya
Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has trashed an apology given to the Turkish government by Deputy President William Ruto over deportation of businessman Harun Ayden.
Interior CS Fred Matiang'i |
Speaking for the first time over the issue, Matiang’i said Ayden was a criminal who had used some VIPs to gain entry into the country twice without his passport being stamped.
“The
government of the Republic of Kenya cannot, would not and has not apologized,
because there is nothing wrong, we have done on this matter, and we have done
what we have agreed with the Turkish government, to deport their citizen so
that they can deal with him,’’ said Matiang’i.
While
appearing before the National Assembly committee on Security and National Administration,
Matiang’i said Ayden was on the security radar of other East African countries
over his movements.
He
told the MPs Ayden used fraudulent means to enter the country and he only filed
online that he wanted to invest in the energy sector, although there wasn’t any
investment.
“There
is no known grammatically sensible way to describe this person other than he
was a criminal, some sort of strange character operating around and
masquerading as though he was an investor, and I wouldn’t bring myself as a
responsible public servant to apologise to anybody about this kind of person,’’
Matiang’i retorted.
Matiang’i defended the action of deporting Ayden without
charging him in the Kenyan courts, even as MPs queried how the Turkish National
entered the country twice without his passport being stamped.
He
told the MPs charging the Turkish National for being in the country illegally
and for money laundering would only attract a sentence of six months, and
bearing the diplomatic relationship Kenya has with Turkey, they agreed to
deport him.
The
deportation of Ayden who is linked to Deputy President William Ruto has
exacerbated political tension between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta, with
Ruto even apologizing to Turkey over the incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment