Senator Cherargei Advises Omtatah on Senate Powers After Arrest

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei on Monday, December 30, weighed in on the ongoing demonstrations with an interesting piece of advice to his Busia counterpart Okiya Omtatah.

Senator Omtatah stole headlines on Monday after he joined youthful protestors in the Nairobi CBD to protest against abductions in the country.

What ensued was a back and forth with anti-riot police, with Omtatah and several other protestors getting arrested. The Senator was subsequently taken to Gigiri Police Station.

In the wake of his arrest, Senator Cherargei, who is a well-known ally of President William Ruto, sympathised with families whose kin went missing during the festive period. Cherargei, however, was also critical of how Omtatah decided to stand with Kenyans on the ground.

“I hope & pray the young Kenyans who were abducted pedestrian criminals shall be found safe & be able to join their families during this festive season,” Cherargei said.

According to Cherargei, Omtatah would have been better off pushing for a Senate sitting to grill security stakeholders in the country including the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, the National Intelligence Service among others.

He added, “To my brother Senator Omtatah,  the people of Busia County elected you to be the  Senator of the Republic of Kenya. My advice convince the Senate to hold a special sitting to allow all of us to summon IG , NIS , IPOA & DCI to be held accountable of this heinous lapses of security.”

Cherargei went on to term Monday’s demonstrations as ‘illegal’.

By Monday evening, protests were reported in several major cities across the country including Nairobi, Eldoret, Embu and Mombasa, with tens of protestors getting arrested.

In Nairobi, some protestors sustained injuries from the running battles with police, while lobby groups reporting that at least 34 individuals had been taken into police custody.

Cherargei’s suggestion was similar to action taken by Embakasi Member of Parliament Babu Owino, who on Sunday wrote a public letter to National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula.

In his letter, the vocal lawmaker requested a special sitting in the National Assembly to tackle what he has termed as “urgent matters regarding the state of security in the country.”

Babu Owino specifically mentioned Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja Director of Criminal Investigations Amin Ibrahim and the new Cabinet Secretary for Interior Mr Onesmus Murkomen as government officials who needed to answer pressing questions regarding the state of security in the country.

Human rights group Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) estimates that at least 10 Kenyans have been abducted in December alone, including some notable social media names like Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti Njeru, and Bernard Kavuli.