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Mutahi Ngunyi to President Ruto: Weak people revenge, the strong forgive


Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has cautioned President William Ruto against taking revenge on his predecessor retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.

This comes after President Ruto scaled down Mr Kenyatta’s security detail in what the government operatives say is a rationalisation of personnel.

Mr Kenyatta’s security detail has been scaled down from 96 to 25 elite police officers with senior security personnel attached to the retired president replaced with officers of lower ranks, while the former First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has only been left with five. Additionally, security personnel attached to Mr Kenyatta’s other family members have all withdrawn.

An officer in the rank of assistant inspector general has also been recalled because the retired president’s security team is legally supposed to be headed by a chief inspector.

But in a tweet, Ngunyi advised President Ruto against taking vengeance on his predecessor, saying so doing only portrays the head of state as a weak leader.

Also read: Uhuru security: Orengo schools Ruto on vengeance with apt Bible verse

Mr Kenyatta’s current woes are a mirror image of what he subjected his then deputy to in 2021, when Dr Ruto’s security detail was down scaled at the height of the political fallout between the two leaders.

President Kenyatta’s administration downgraded the DP’s security by withdrawing elite General Service Unit (GSU) officers guarding his residences.

Also read: Stop harassing Uhuru, Jubilee Party tells Ruto

The change of guard was effected simultaneously at the DP’s official Karen residence and his private homes in Karen, Nairobi, and Sugoi, Eldoret.

At the time, the National Police Service said the replacement of the GSU officers with those from the Administration Police was a ‘normal re-assignment to enhance efficiency.’

As a category one VVIP, the Deputy President is entitled to security from the same elite guards as his boss. Both of them are supposed to be guarded by the G Company and the Recce Company, which are elite platoons from the GSU whose members are carefully selected to form the Presidential Security Unit.

Also read: Alai – Uhuru shortchanged us on the presidency but he must not be touched