The Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has defended the arrest and deportation of the Turkish Businessman Harun Aydin saying he was deported on suspicion of involvement in criminal activities.

Speaking in Mombasa before National security committee MPs today, Matiang’i said Aydin who is a close associate of Deputy President William Ruto was detained on arrival from Uganda because he entered the country twice under unclear circumstances.

“His passport shows he has left the country twice without a stamp of arrival; it means you either used the porous borders or took advantage of VIP entry,” CS Matiang’i said doubting his travel history in the region.

“The way he had been traveling to and from various countries in the region clearly match the characteristics of a money laundering suspect and you know money laundering and terrorism are joined at the hip,” he added.

Aydin was arrested on Saturday last week and sent back to his country. Two days later, Deputy President was blocked at Wilson Airport as he prepared to travel with him to Uganda. The reports from immigration however revealed that Ruto could not travel because he did not have clearance from State House.

The DP and his allies protested when Aydin was arrested and Ruto later announced that he had apologized on behalf of the government, a claim which Matiangi dismissed. He further insisted that the Turk was deported in line with a mutual agreement between Kenya and the Turkish government.

The Interior CS revealed that Kenyan immigration officials were forced to revoke the Turkish businessman’s 2-year work permit after discovering he had provided misleading information.

“The phone numbers Harun Aydin filled on his work permit were ringing with other people. We were ready to charge him in a court of law, but we also have a mutual relationship with the Turkish Government so they requested to deal with him in their country,” confirmed the CS.

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