'There was a plan to eliminate him': CS Kindiki orders probe into former Meru MCA's death

Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. Kithure Kindiki now says that foul play was involved in the death of former Antubetwe Kiongo Ward MCA George Kaliunga who was allegedly killed during a banditry attack in Meru County on Sunday.

Speaking in Igembe North, Meru County on Tuesday, Kindiki noted that preliminary investigations suggest that Kaliunga's killing was premeditated and that his would-be attackers attempted to cover it up by feigning a banditry attack.

"Mr. George Kaliunga, the former MCA, did not die accidentally. It clearly looks like there was a plan to eliminate him. I assure you that his killers will be apprehended and prosecuted," said Kindiki.

The CS hence ordered the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to constitute a taskforce to probe Kaliunga's death and bring his killers to book.

"I direct the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to form a special team that will probe this matter and get to the bottom of it," he said.

While ordering the immediate deployment of Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) officers to the zone in a bid to tame rising cattle rustling cases between communities living in Isiolo and Meru counties, the CS subsequently declared the Meru North region a security operation zone.

"The same way we've neutralised bandits and armed criminals in the North Rift Valley is the same way we will deal with cattle rustlers. I am declaring Meru North a security operation zone," said the interior boss.

"The security team here in Meru North and across the country must use all the skills and experience to identify criminals who are disturbing our citizens. We must be more pre-emptive than reactive in security management."

The CS similarly directed Meru and Tharaka Nithi county commissioners to chart out a plan that their respective residents can use to solve border disputes in future and to table a report on the same before him on Wednesday.