NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 8- Deputy President William Ruto is set to meet with the United Kingdom Defence Secretary Ben Wallace on Wednesday, after a say it, all talk at the Chatham House.
The Deputy President revealed this during the Chatham House talk, where he talked of his plans if elected the fifth President.
The two, he said are set to discuss security issues and areas of cooperation and more so in eliminating the threat of terror, posed by the Al-Shabaab militia.
The UK is one of Kenya’s major security partners and is involved in the joint training of troops from both countries.
The British Army Training Unit Kenya has a camp in Nanyuki.
In January last year, Kenya and the United Kingdom have agreed to refresh the UK-Kenya Security Compact.
“It is important that friends and allies support you in the task ahead. It is important that when we face the common threat of al-Shabab, that we work together to defeat that, both here in Kenya but also the United Kingdom and through the international community and indeed through the UN in Somalia. I think it is important that the United Kingdom stands side by side with Kenya in standing up for its values, for democracy, and working with Kenya to make sure that its neighbors follow a similar path”, Wallace said during his visit in Kenya.
In the US, the Deputy President also met senior government officials, where they among other things talked of security issues.
Kenya is largely seen as an Island of peace in turbulent region, where the neighbouring countries are battling insecurities or encountering serious political instability.
During the Chatham House talk, the Deputy President committed to ensure the National Police Service is financially independent if elected the fifth President of Kenya.
The Deputy President said lack of financial independence has compromised how police service and institutions under it, like the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, operate.
“There is a saying, whoever pays the piper calls the tune,” he said during his lecture at the Chatham House in the United Kingdom.
He further accused the government under President Uhuru Kenyatta of abusing the criminal justice sector, to punish his opponents.
“If you have the challenge of having stolen from the public, you just need to support the BBI or the handshake, and you will have no consequences,” he said.
“It is our believe that our accountability should be built and institutionalized.”
To end the trend, he said the Kenya Kwanza government will operationalize the Judiciary Fund as a way of ensuring its independence.
The fund is provided for in the constitution.
“This will give the Judiciary the financial capacity to be able to deploy their full potential in adjudicating their duties,” he said.
With the fund, he said corruption cases will not take a longer time to be heard and determined.
“It is our commitment that we must operationalize the Judiciary Fund and get the Judiciary to do what it is supposed to do,” the DP said.
He further committed to ensuring NPS and the DCI have financial independence.
“If somebody else is paying, that is how they decide who you go after or not,” he said.
“We believe the criminal justice system should be truly independent by having financial independence to be able to execute their mandate. That way, we will be in the trajectory of getting Kenya where we want.”
He also said he shall ensure there are clear “demarcations” between government and the opposition, as way of enhancing accountability.
As it is, he said Kenya has a “mongrel of governance” after the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
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