Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has described his dramatic arrest on Monday and subsequent release as a “State attack” and has likened the whole incident to what the late multi-party doyen Kenneth Matiba faced, saying that both scenarios paint the same picture – that of using State powers for political persecution.
The MP was arrested by a contingent of about 50 police officers drawn from the General Service Unit on September 9 after attending a live TV debate on a local vernacular television in Murang’a town.
Speaking to the a local daily on Wednesday, Mr Nyoro said he has decided to dissent and to act in the public interest as opposed to adhering to a political script of a few whom he accuses of wanting to popularise “the unsellable Raila Odinga” in Murang’a and Mt Kenya region.
The late Matiba, a former MP for Kiharu, was arrested detained without trial and placed in solitary confinement due to his fight for pluralism in the 1990s.
Mr Matiba stood up against the tyranny that came with the one-party system of the Kanu era under President Daniel arap Moi.
He was at the centre of a growing public disaffection with the one-party state and the emergence of a formidable call for a second liberation and became the focus of the State attacks.
State officers were used to oppress Mr Matiba who chose to go against the political tide of the day.
Mr Nyoro now says the same script is being repeated by the State to force him stop exercising his free will, saying a few rich people are bulldozing him to abandon the voice of the majority in his constituency whom he says support Deputy President William Ruto.
“I’m elected by the people and it is them I listen to. They should not be bulldozed to follow a certain direction to please a few rich people. They must never lie to themselves that they can buy off the souls and hearts of the poor people with their money and it’s time for the poor to know that the money the rich people have belongs to them and their families,” Mr Nyoro said in an interview.
The youthful MP who has incorporated Mr Matiba’s slogan of “Let the people decide” in his speeches, said just like the way the late former Kiharu MP had the ordinary people’s backing, he too enjoyed the crowd’s support who wrestled with the police at Gitui Catholic Church as they attempted to arrest him.
The firebrand MP attributes his predicaments to his failure to support Mr Odinga, but says doing so would be tantamount to committing a political suicide.
He has vowed to emulate the fearless Matiba to fight for leaders to exercise the peoples’ free will.
“Mr Matiba was fearless because life is not worth living if you are living on your knees and under subjugation. We must be given space to exercise our free will because it is the collective intelligence and minds of many that will change Kenya and not a few people who believe they know everything yet they are already messing up.
The more we open up the space, the more we are able to identify merit and competencies which will help the general good of our country. But if we subjugate others, if we tell them that their views won’t matter, then what we are doing is we are believing in a few who are undoubtedly wrong. Let’s open the space. Let the people voice their concerns, because they do it in good faith, without any harassment as was witnessed my case,” he said.
Mr Nyoro said he is ready to pay a bigger sacrifice in fighting for what he believes in.
He added that he is only a prisoner of the people who have decided to support Dr Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
“Let them know that Kiharu has no space for weak leaders and they should never fool themselves that because I’m young they can easily intimidate me. I was brought in rural Kiharu and my bones are strong and hard. Let them look for another coward and no matter gives orders, I will never be intimidated by anyone,” he added.
