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Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has exonerated himself from accusations that he lured cartoonist Kibet Bull, popularly known as Yoko on the X platform, to his abductors on Christmas eve.

Addressing a news conference yesterday, Omtatah termed the claims as false, baseless and quite imaginative saying it is regrettable that he had suddenly been cast as the villain in someone’s fiction.

“For clarity: I have spent my life standing up for justice, the rule of law and the protection of human rights.

To suggest that I would “sell out” young activists is not only absurd but deeply insulting. I met @Kibet_bull in good faith, as I do with many Kenyans in my daily encounters,” he responded on his X account on Wednesday after the allegations.

His sentiments came hours after he faced harsh criticism mounted by social media users who alleged that he played a critical role in the abduction of Kibet.

University student

The attacks on him emerged after media reports indicated that Kibet, a student at Egerton University had travelled to Nairobi from Nakuru for a meeting with him on December 24.

After the meeting with Omtatah who has declared that he will be vying for the Presidency in 2027, Kibet was to follow up on his brother Ronny Kiplang’at who had mysteriously disappeared on Saturday after attending a church service at Seventh Day Adventist (SDA), Kikuyu.

However, the cartoonist who cut a name for himself for designing silhouettes aimed to humorously criticise President William Ruto was abducted around the Kikuyu area shortly after meeting the senator.

His family members said Kibet had confined himself within Nakuru county and avoided any far travel over his famed involvement in criticising Ruto on social media.

The family said that he was unreachable on the phone from 9 pm on Tuesday when they tried to enquire from him whether he had managed to trace his lost brother.

They reported his disappearance the following day at Thogoto Police Station under the case was booked under OB number 06/25/12/2024.

Visited office

Yesterday, during his tell-it-all media briefing, Omtatah stated that Kibet visited his office on Tuesday, December 24 between 11 am and 4 pm in his private office located at Taj Towers, in Upper Hill, Nairobi

“He came to introduce himself to me and to explore how he could join my team, before his scheduled travel on Friday, 27 December 2024, to Israel to join Tel Aviv University, for further studies,” Omtatah said.

The Senator said Kibet told him that he is a strong supporter of his work and that he had travelled to Nairobi from Nakuru that morning just to meet him before flying out.

Omtatah said that the cartoonist said he would be staying at his brother’s place in Kikuyu until his departure but did not raise any fears about his safety ostensibly over his artistic criticism of the President.

“When we were done, my driver drove him and my colleague, Wyclife Nyakina, to Kencom House bus station. Nyakina informed me that they walked across from Kencom to the National Archives Building, on Tom Mboya Street, where he was to board a matatu to Kikuyu. They parted ways at the traffic barrier between the National Archives and the public toilet at around 5 pm,” Omtatah clarified.

“When I learnt of his abduction, I made a missing person report at the Upper Hill Police Station vide Police Occurrence Book Number 25/25/12/2024.”

Omtatah said Kibet was tracked by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to his office, later traced him and abducted him after he left.

Communication gadgets

He said that his security detail informed him that they were monitoring a white Subaru Forester vehicle, Registration No, KCG 089A outside his office building, which was mounted with suspected communications gadgets used to intercept phone communications.

“The vehicle, which had come on Kibet’s heels, parked across the road from the office block where my office is located on the 5th Floor. Its driver did not turn off its engine and its four occupants, three men and one lady, did not disembark for the entire time it was there. It stayed at that location without incident and left shortly after Kibet had left,” he added.

When reports about Kibet’s abduction surfaced, Omtatah said he commenced a search of the vehicle on the National Transport and Safety Authority’s (NTSA) website that revealed contradicting features and information about the car.

The registration details that appeared after the search, Omtatah said were of White Toyota Station Wagon belonging to Catherine Kalaju.

“It is now clear to me that the white Subaru vehicle in issue, with communication gadgets mounted on its roof, belongs to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which owns similar vehicles, and that it was trailing Kibet,” he clarified.

Omtatah called for the resignation of DCI boss Mohamed Amin and Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja over the increasing number of abductions allegedly being perpetrated by the security officers.