Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has denied any involvement in a disturbing incident during his tenure when more than 30 bodies were discovered in River Yala, with most of them bearing marks of torture.
In his first TV interview to settle the matter on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Matiang’i said that he was concerned that politicians were using the incident for political expediency, yet it should be investigated.
“We asked the Inspector General of Police at the time, Hillary Mutyambai, what was happening at that time, and we agreed that the gravity of the situation is such that the DCI himself should go to that place and find out what is happening,” Matiang’i said.
Left an open file
“The DCI spent some time there with his team, and when they came back, we demanded an inquest at the National Security Council,” he added.
“The DCI and the police told us that, you know, fortunately for us, there are bodies. Let us get the families to claim the bodies, then we build the stories from there, we open the files, take statements from families so that we understand the circumstances under which these people disappeared and their bodies were found in River Yala,” Matiang’i noted.
He, however, said that when he left office in 2022, the matter was still pending under investigations, and that the police had the file on the progress and findings of the probe.
“By the time we were leaving government, the file was open; it was not closed at that time because investigations were going on. I did not leave with the file; in any case, I would have nothing to do with the file as a cabinet secretary because that was a police matter,” Matiang’i said.
Ready for public inquest
He equally observed that as a cabinet secretary, he is not responsible for every accident or crime that happens during his time in office.
“Our detractors always choose when it is convenient for them to say these things. The police service is independent when they are doing certain things,” Matiang’i noted.
“The best way to deal with this matter is to have a public inquest so that all of us who were in the security sector at the time can go and face the inquest. I am ready to go before a magistrate or judge who is going to preside over the inquest and say what I know about it.”
