Matiang’i denies coronavirus infection rumour

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has dismissed claims on social media that he is hospitalised for coronavirus.

The CS blamed individuals he described as “mentally deranged” for being part of a scheme to humiliate him and his family so that he loses focus on the assignment given to him by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In an interview with the Nation at his Harambee House office in Nairobi, the CS said the rumour has caused a lot of distress to him and his family. He said he had to switch off his phone Thursday evening when the misinformation started circulating on social media.

“I feel for my family. My wife and children who have their own lives to live but they have to endure this kind of rumour. They are private citizens who have to pay a heavy price because one of their member is in public service,” the CS said.

On Thursday evening, romour circulated on social media that the CS, who chairs the National Emergency Response committee on Covid-19, had been taken ill and was fighting for his life in Intensive Care Unit.

“If I become sick with Covid-19, I will be the first to go public about it, because there is nothing to hide. I have been tested three times because our level of exposure is high,” he said.

The CS said he has filed a complaint with the police to establish the source of the rumour.

“I have told the DCI and the inspector-general of police and they are trying to investigate. We hope that we will find out who is the source of the rumour,” he said.