This archive report was first published on 2 July 2019.
Kenya's history of political assassinations serves as a stark reminder of the need for swift and thorough investigations into any reported threats.
However, investigations into such threats are often compromised by the culture of politicians crying wolf, with wild claims serving the purpose of winning attention and sympathy.
Despite the likelihood of political hoaxes, it is still incumbent on the authorities to seriously investigate them, lest they ignore a complaint and then somebody is killed.
Reports have surfaced of a meeting where the killing of Deputy President William Ruto was floated, with Cabinet secretaries and senior civil servants from President Uhuru Kenyatta's central Kenya backyard allegedly in attendance.
The police must establish the veracity of these reports, interrogating each and every person who was present and securing records, notes, and any other useful documentation.
My own instinct tells me that the letter allegedly sent to President Kenyatta by a CS protesting the agenda of the meeting is nothing but a very transparent fake.
It is evident that the police are proceeding on the same assumption and, therefore, focusing on the source of the letter rather than its substance.
Let us remember, however, that the police know they cannot be trusted to be professional and impartial on matters touching on the DP, hence the reported decision to bring in a neutral agency — the American FBI.
Even if it is true that the said assassination plot is an irresponsible concoction, no investigation will be complete until all lines of inquiry have been scrupulously pursued.
As I pen this, it is going to a fortnight since controversial social media activist Robert Alai was arrested for posting photographs of Kenyan soldiers killed in a terrorist attack.
Whatever offence Mr Alai may have committed is a misdemeanour, and only despotic regimes use anti-terrorism laws to silence journalists and bloggers.
