Close Kenyan President Ruto aide claims disbanded DCI unit killed two missing Indians; officials yet to confirm

New Delhi: The Nation newspaper of Kenya quoting Dennis Itumbi, a close aide of Kenyan President William Ruto, has publicly acknowledged that the missing Indians, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, were killed by the disbanded DCI unit.

The close aide of the Kenyan President also claimed that the two Indians were part of the Kenya Kwanza digital campaign team, a charge which was denied by the friends of Zulfiqar Khan.

The two, Itumbi said, contributed immensely to the success of Dr Ruto’s campaign.

Itumbi was at the heart of Dr Ruto’s presidential campaigns.

In a tell-all post on Facebook, Itumbi said one of the two reached out after being attracted by the team’s online campaign strategy and expressed interest in working with them for free. They then exchanged contacts and that is how their friendship started. 

Henceforth, the duo offered help to the Kenya Kwanza’s campaign team whenever called upon. “Sometimes when our team was overwhelmed and we needed graphics, I sent (material) their way and they paused whatever they were doing and did me the favour,” he said.

The team, Itumbi added, always got excess campaign material. At one point, he recalled receiving over 1,000 creative pieces that were more than what they needed. Having become acquaintances, their enemies became common –so were their indulgences, he reasons.

“They visited Mombasa, Homa Bay, (Masai) Mara, nyama choma joints and loved our dance joints too,” he narrated.

“They invited me to India; I told them I would visit after (the) elections. Their eyes were primarily on enjoying Kenya as much as they could. When they sat down, they produced very appealing content,” he added.

The revelation comes against a backdrop of the disbandment of the Special Service Unit (SSU), a group that has been accused of extrajudicial killings. The team is suspected to be behind the disappearance of the two Indians.

Khan and his friend Zaid went missing alongside taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania from Mombasa Road. The trio went missing on July 25 after they were abducted outside Ole Sereni Hotel.

Itumbi described SSU as a unit out to “literally kidnap, assault, maim, and kill innocent people.”

He stated that the disbanded unit of detectives targeted those who supported the election of Dr Ruto in the recently concluded polls.

“Zaid was such one person; A good soul a happy guy who was here to tour Kenya,” Itumbi wrote on his social media handle. President Ruto ordered the disbandment of SSU last Saturday after a probe into the disappearance of the two Indians was linked to the unit.

A total of 21 detectives who served under the unit have been summoned to the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) headquarters in Nairobi today (Friday, October 21, 2022).

"As usual they (Zaid and Ahmad) always did something extra. A meme here, a video there, a box quote and much more," he said.

"Is there anything else we can help with?" Zaid would always ask.

We even had a Telegram group, that rarely went silent, with endless ideas.

Zaid and Ahmad were just good people who became my friends and in the process connected with some in our team.

And now Itumbi claims that the two Indians and their driver could be dead. He did not offer any proof.

"Two days, before they returned home, I learnt that they had lost their phones during a night out. I wanted to laugh at them, so I went to a place where we used to meet and even there, they had not been seen. They could not be reached.

"Just the other day, I finally got to know their painful last moments in the hands of people whose only mission was to ensure Ruto does NOT become President even if it means killing people.

In this case, they killed people whose only mistake was to be our friends," Itumbi wrote.

In his second post, Itumbi shares the disturbing details about the fateful night.