The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti has released a detailed investigation report about the three foreigners who were arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with electoral materials.

While maintaining that the three were not officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Kinoti’s report gives a blow-by-blow account of how the trio was nabbed at the airport.

He says they first arrested one Jose Gregoria Camargo Castella, a Venezuelan national who at the time did not identify as an employee of IEBC but one who was in connection with one Abdulahi Abdi Mohammed in Nairobi.

Abdi is said to have paid Camargo’s plane ticket into the country and was expected to report to his office upon arrival. He had travelled from Panama through Turkey and arrived in the country on Thursday, July 21.

Kinoti says upon arrival at the airport, he was flagged after suspicious documents which have since been established to be IEBC stickers for at least 11 counties and about 10,000 polling stations cutting across Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Meru, Machakos, Murang’a, Bomet, Tharaka Nithi, Nyandarua, Kericho and an unprinted roll.

The DCI says while he was hesitant to give details of his luggage, he said the said documents had been given to him by his company to deliver to Abdi.

“The suspect confessed that he was given the materials from Panama by his company M/S Smartic International Holdings B.V to deliver to Abdulahi Abdi Mohammed’s office in Nairobi,” part of the statement read.

“His second bag contained one personal laptop, one personal monitor, five flash discs, one mobile phone and assorted personal computer accessories. When he was questioned on ownership of the same, he stated that the electronics and their accessories were his own personal items and not IEBC property,” part of the lengthy statement further read.

The statement further indicates that while they were questioning Camargo, two more foreigners; Joel Gustavo Rodriguez and Salvador Javier Suarez appeared at the airport asking for the former’s whereabouts.

The duo was also in the country on an invite by Abdi and had similarly ferried in a similar contingent containing 17 rolls of IEBC stickers which passed undetected on July 15.

Upon further investigations, the DCI however say the duo was not Smartmatic employees and had travelled into the country using expired passports from Venezuela.

“During interrogation, Camargo was asked if he had any contact of anybody in the republic of Kenya and in particular IEBC however he could not give any contact other than the contact of the apartment he was booked at.”

DCI opined that this was a well-orchestrated plan by the IEBC since upon questioning of the commission’s principal legal adviser Chrispine Owiye about the mode of delivery of election materials from outside the country, he said that the CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan did not sign a clause for that.

“The above averments speak of a deliberate loophole consciously left for mischief,” DCI claims.

DCI says the CEO and chairman Wafula Chebukati are contradicting each other in acknowledging the trio.

“Mr Marhan Hussein Marjan categorically stated that the suspect Camargo is not an official of IEBC but an employee of Smartmatic. We find Chairperson Wafula Chebukati to be insincere and dishonest by declaring people who have been disowned by his own staff as IEBC personnel.”

DCI Kinoti has now called on Wafula Chebukati to come out clear and assure Kenyans of free, fair and credible 2022 elections.

“We are challenging Chebukati to put his house in order and walk the talk of delivering his own words free fair and credible general election. He should desist from intimidating and blackmailing other equally responsible players in conducting their duties by constantly misusing the media,” the statement reads in conclusion.

MEDIA RELEASE ON QUESTIONED ELECTIONS MATERIALS pic.twitter.com/ZUjU1i68aD

— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) July 24, 2022