NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 11 — Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has sharply criticized former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over allegations surrounding the death of former Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno, accusing him of exploiting the deaths of prominent Kenyans for political mileage.Murkomen dismissed Gachagua’s claims that contaminated jet fuel may have caused the helicopter crash that killed Ng’eno as “made-up, cooked-up nonsense” and challenged the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader to present the alleged intelligence to investigators.Gachagua raised the allegations on Tuesday while delivering an accountability statement and performance audit of President William Ruto’s four years in office, calling for investigations into what he described as unresolved high-profile deaths.He claimed to have intelligence indicating that fuel used by the helicopter that crashed after dropping Ng’eno at Endebess had allegedly been transported from Lodwar and questioned the circumstances under which it was supplied.According to Gachagua, Kenya Revenue Authority officials at Eldoret noticed an “unusual car” carrying the fuel and briefly arrested and questioned its driver.He further alleged that the officials and police at Eldoret airstrip were instructed from Nairobi to release the driver.“It is this fuel that caused the chopper not to pick up altitude; that is why the pilot first came down and tried again to pick up altitude,” Gachagua claimed.He demanded answers from Murkomen and called on the Kenya Airports Authority to release CCTV footage from the facility on the day of the incident.But Murkomen strongly rejected the allegations, accusing Gachagua of reviving Ng’eno’s death months later as part of his political campaign.“Using the death of Hon. Ng’eno to score cheap political attention ahead of your visit to Emurua-Dikirr is both pathetic and unfortunate,” Murkomen said.He said Ng’eno’s family was still mourning and accused Gachagua of failing to contact or visit them following the MP’s death.“Hon. Ng’eno passed on more than five months ago. His family and friends are still grieving and still trying to come to terms with the devastating reality of his sudden death,” Murkomen said.The Interior CS said preliminary findings had attributed the crash to bad weather, pointing to accounts from residents of Chepkiyep in Nandi County, where the pilot had reportedly made an emergency landing while waiting for weather conditions to improve.Murkomen also rejected any suggestion that his ministry was responsible for the supply of aviation fuel or supervision of air transport.“The Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration has absolutely no oversight over supply of fuel, and does not supervise air transport. You know this, yet you still rush to drag my name ostensibly to gain political traction in Rift Valley,” he said.He challenged Gachagua to disclose the identities of the people and driver allegedly linked to the fuel and to submit the information to investigators.“You claim you have intelligence about an ‘unusual car’ that allegedly carried the jet fuel and about a driver who was briefly arrested by KRA officials. Mr. Rigathi, why don’t you make their names public?” Murkomen asked.“Why not hand over identities and statements to the investigators, or record a proper statement with the DCI?”Murkomen described the allegations as politically motivated and accused Gachagua of attempting to divert public attention from his own political challenges.He also took issue with Gachagua’s reference to the deaths of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and former Chief of Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla, arguing that the deaths of prominent Kenyans should not be turned into political weapons.“Your callousness and attempt to use unfortunate deaths of Hon. Raila, Gen. Ogolla and Hon. Ngeno for political mileage is insensitive, irresponsible and shameful,” Murkomen said.Gachagua, however, used his Tuesday address to demand broader investigations into the deaths of Raila, Ogolla and Ng’eno, arguing that Kenyans deserved answers over circumstances surrounding their deaths.On Raila’s death, Gachagua questioned the medical care the former prime minister received in his final hours, his travel to India, the speed of his burial and the absence of a postmortem, asking why the government had not provided what he described as satisfactory answers.He also renewed calls for an investigation into the death of General Ogolla, who died alongside other military personnel in a helicopter crash in 2024.Gachagua questioned why the aircraft accident investigation report had not been released publicly and called on the Director of Public Prosecutions to initiate a public inquest into what he described as unresolved high-profile deaths over the past four years.“Mr. William Ruto, what do you know about Gen Francis Ogolla’s death?” Gachagua asked, while also questioning the mechanical condition of the Bell Huey helicopter involved in the crash.The competing claims have opened a new front in the increasingly bitter political confrontation between Gachagua and the Ruto administration, with the former deputy president positioning unresolved deaths and government accountability as key issues in his political campaign.Murkomen maintained that the government would continue to protect Kenyans and accused Gachagua of seeking to create political instability through unsubstantiated allegations.“I will continue protecting the lives and property of Kenyans with unwavering resolve and dedication against your wicked desire for instability, destruction and anarchy,” Murkomen said.