Ex-Interior CS Matiang’i blames NIS for failing to detect hired goons in anti-government protests
Matiang'i noted that NIS is sophisticated enough to track such activities well in advance, warning that failure to act raises serious concerns about the agency’s operational efficiency.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has come under sharp criticism from former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, who accused the agency of failing to detect and stop the infiltration of hired goons into recent anti-government protests, despite having the tools, mandate, and capacity to act before violence unfolds.
Speaking on Tuesday during a TV interview, Matiang'i noted that NIS is sophisticated enough to track such activities well in advance, warning that failure to act raises serious concerns about the agency’s operational efficiency.
More To Read
- Ex-Interior CS Fred Matiang’i distances himself from River Yala killings, calls for public inquest
- Former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i promises honest leadership as he declares 2027 presidential bid
- Fred Matiang’i denies being Uhuru Kenyatta’s project, confirms 2027 bid to ‘fix Kenya’
- Ministry of Health waives medical bills for Nairobi protest victims
- Matiang’i urges national dialogue, warns repression of Gen Z could tear Kenya apart
- Matiang’i calls for public inquest into extrajudicial killings
“You know, the way the National Intelligence Service works, I can’t drive with guns from Kisii to Nairobi in my car or have people bringing guns to me, and the NIS does not know,” he told Citizen TV.
“It’s their responsibility to know that the way this fellow is behaving, he normally has night meetings with people, and he’s recruiting goons.”
Matiang’i insisted that the NIS is capable of detecting and responding to threats early enough to stop them from escalating.
“I cannot imagine that the security infrastructure does not know that somebody is hiring or training goons to bring them to town to cause mayhem. I cannot imagine that that’s the case, and if they have the information, then they should go forward and act,” he said.
Surveillance technology
The former security chief added that NIS has access to communication systems and surveillance technology that make it nearly impossible for such mobilisations to go unnoticed.
“I don’t want to pretend, I know for sure that the NIS listens to our phone calls, they have ways of collecting intelligence,” he said.
“If they know that somebody is recruiting goons from Roysambu to bring them to Nairobi, why wait until the goons get to Nairobi?”
He criticised government officials who have been making allegations about paid goons without taking action, noting that such officials have the power and resources to investigate and intervene.
“What I find very interesting is that allegations are being made by public officials, yet they’re the custodians of information because they’re the ones who have the instruments of power and the capacity to find out who is doing what,” Matiang’i said.
His remarks come amid ongoing accusations from senior government figures, including Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen, who have linked opposition leaders to the protests and warned of imminent arrests.
However, no opposition leader or alleged sponsor has so far been arrested.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had alleged that goons were ferried into the city under police escort to loot and destroy property.
He said the plan was designed to discredit the youth-led protests aimed at demanding accountability for slain demonstrators from last year.
“We have seen the CS for Interior pretentiously visiting shops that were looted by state-sponsored goons in an attempt to hide his guilt. Mr Murkomen, Kenyans are not fools,” Gachagua said in response to Murkomen’s claim that the police foiled an alleged regime change plot.
“Your police allowed goons into town at their expense to go and cause mayhem and place the blame on the Gen Zs.”
Top Stories Today
