Matiang'i to Government on Dangote Deal: "Stop Telling Us Stories, Arrest Them or Disclose Everything

Fred Matiang'i has laid down a direct challenge to the Ruto administration over the Dangote oil refinery and Kenya's mineral agreements: either name the wrongdoers and arrest them, or put the full agreements before Parliament. What he won't accept, the Jubilee leader said in Mombasa on Monday, is more vague reassurances.

The remarks came after meeting leaders of Kadu Asili, where Matiang'i zeroed in on claims that investors, including Dangote, may have faced extortion attempts during the refinery's development, a claim government officials have referenced publicly without naming suspects or confirming any arrests. For Matiang'i, that gap is the real story. "If, for example, there was a case where Dangote came here and he was shaken down, I don't know why leaders of government would like to tell us stories. My message to them is simple. Act," he said. "If they have told you who shook them down, arrest them. Who is supposed to arrest them? It is not us, Wananchi. You can't come to tell us stories every day. You are the ones who are in office. You are the ones who have powers to act. Please act. Arrest those people."

Matiang'i framed the dispute less as opposition grandstanding and more as a basic test of governance. He proposed a specific mechanism: if full public disclosure of agreements like the Dangote deal or the Mrima mineral concessions carries security sensitivities, take it to Parliament's departmental committees instead. "So, if you have a problem with the public or going to press conferences to do that disclosure, we have departmental committees in the House, which are led by elected leaders, elected by the people of Kenya. You go before them and disclose to them and then work with them on confidentiality. In turn, those leaders will explain to their people. That is how a democratic environment works," he said.

He pointed to what he sees as a troubling signal, that parliamentary committees themselves appear to be asking the same questions as the opposition, meaning even elected oversight bodies may lack the information they're supposed to be scrutinising. "I would expect that the Energy, Finance, Trade or any other relevant committee of the House to have full disclosure of the agreements between investors and the government. That is not too much to ask," he said.

The comments followed Matiang'i's criticism of how President Ruto handled a journalist's question during a recent Coast tour, about claims by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua concerning mineral exploitation, which he said should have been answered rather than deflected. "We try to be respectful of our leaders. We are very sad about some of the language some of them use. But we will not be dissuaded from the path that we have chosen of respect, integrity and focus in the manner in which we engage the public debate," Matiang'i said.

He also pushed back on suggestions that the opposition lacks a substantive agenda, pointing to Coast Region Integrated Development as a focus area. "We are sitting here looking at how we are going to provide jobs to the people of the Coast. How we are going to manage resources differently from how it is being done by this administration," he said, adding that under his leadership, mineral concessions like Mrima would face no such secrecy: "If I were president today, there would be no debates about how Kenya is concessioning in Mrima. Everybody would know everything that is going on."