Fred Matiang’i Is a Scam: How Kenya Risks Being Tricked Into National Self-Suicide

By Fred Allan Nyankuru

In times of national crisis—economic collapse, unemployment, insecurity, and institutional rot—desperate citizens often reach for whatever figure appears strong, decisive, and unafraid. In Kenya, that figure has increasingly become Dr. Fred Matiang’i, former Interior Cabinet Secretary. To some, he is a no-nonsense administrator. To others, a strongman disguised as a saviour. But beneath the rhetoric, the bravado, and the media-crafted image lies a truth Kenyans must face with clarity and courage:

Fred Matiang’i is not a solution. He is a scam. And if we fall for it, we may be tricked into the most dangerous decision of our generation—electing our own undoing.

The Scam of the Strongman Persona

Matiang’i has masterfully cultivated a reputation as a strong, results-oriented bureaucrat. He speaks with force. He acts swiftly. He imposes authority. And it is this “strongman” brand that many disillusioned Kenyans find attractive amid the chaos of the current administration. But this is not strength in the service of justice or reform. It is authority in the service of impunity.

During his time as Interior CS, police brutality soared; Court orders were routinely ignored, especially those unfavourable to government agendas; Enforced disappearances and mysterious deaths became chillingly common; Press freedom shrank, and state intimidation of critics rose.

What kind of strength is this? —It is the strength of suppression, not leadership. The strength of fear, not respect. —Matiang’i’s brand of governance is not boldness—it is bullying. And mistaking tyranny for leadership is the first step toward national ruin.

The Scam of Media Myth-Making

Kenya’s most powerful media houses—many owned or influenced by the same tycoons who pillaged the country under the previous regime—have gone to great lengths to rehabilitate Matiang’i’s image. You’ll see the headlines: “Disciplined,” “Efficient,” “Tough on Crime.”

But what they won’t tell you is that the same man: Oversaw a police service whose morale and structure he damaged, especially by stalling promotions and unfairly favouring elite recruits, managed the most corrupt police recruitment exercise in living memory, and showed contempt for judicial authority, setting a dangerous precedent for lawlessness from the top.

These media campaigns are not journalism. They are corporate propaganda designed to repackage tyranny as technocracy. And it’s not by accident—Matiang’i is the chosen frontman of Kenya’s corrupt oligarchs, the very same who destroyed the economy, looted public coffers, and left millions in poverty —To vote for him is not to reject the elite. It is to reward them. To empower their latest disguise.

The Scam of “Change from the Past”

Some supporters claim Matiang’i represents change from the current regime. But let us be honest: He was part of a government that mismanaged the economy before Ruto’s regime even began. He served in the very Uhuru Kenyatta administration that ballooned debt, imposed oppressive taxes, and oversaw massive state capture. He was at the heart of a system that normalized contempt for the judiciary, patronage over professionalism, and power over principle.

How then is he change? He is not the alternative to the problem—he is a continuation of it. Matiang’i is not a new chapter. He is a return to the old, decaying book we’ve already suffered under. We cannot escape Ruto’s mess by jumping into Uhuru’s arms.

Let us be clear: electing Fred Matiang’i would be more than a political miscalculation—it would be a national act of self-sabotage. It would signal to the oligarchs that they can loot and manipulate, then return disguised as saviours. It would tell brutal state officers that violence pays, and lawlessness can be forgiven. It would discourage honest public servants who fight for integrity, knowing that tyranny is more rewarded than principle. It would be the equivalent of pouring poison into a glass and drinking it, just because the glass is new.

If we fall for the scam, the consequences will be brutal: The rule of law will collapse further. Media freedom will shrink. The deep state will entrench itself again. Ordinary Kenyans will become spectators in their own democracy.

Let us not confuse action with progress. Let us not confuse shouting with leadership. Let us not confuse strength with justice.

Matiang’i is a scam because he presents himself as something he is not: A saviour when he is a symptom. A solution when he is a recycled mistake. A servant of the people when he has served only power.

Let us not fall for the trick. Let us not sell our future for a televised illusion.