Residents from Kiambu County have gathered outside the Integrity Centre, the headquarters of EACC, where Governor Kimani Wamatangi is being interrogated after an arrest on Tuesday morning.
Armed with placards demanding his release, the supporters sang a popular gospel song repurposed to declare that the governor was working for his people.
"Ametutendea, ametutendea, Wamatangi ametutendea," the crowd sang the popular song, loosely translated to "Wamatangi is working for us."
With a banner written, "No Wamatangi, no peace," another supporter demanded the release of the embattled governor, who is being held under suspicion of embezzling county funds.
Moments after the protests broke, the governor took to social media to calm the residents and promised to provide a more detailed report on his apprehension, which he termed as intimidation.
"To the great people of Kiambu County, I urge you to remain calm and peaceful. We shall overcome," Wamatangi wrote.
"We will never give in to intimidation!!! I will be addressing the media shortly at the EACC Headquarters, Integrity House, Nairobi."
Wamatangi was apprehended on Tuesday morning after a raid at his office and residence by officers from the graft commission EACC.
During the early morning raid, the detectives recovered Ksh12 million and $13,000 (approximately Ksh1.6 million in current exchange rates) in cash at his home, which they believed were proceeds of graft.
''Today's operation has resulted in the recovery of critical evidentiary material to support ongoing investigations. This includes the seizure of Ksh12 million and Ksh1,685,320 (USD 13,000) in cash from the residence of Governor Kimani Wamatangi, which is believed to be proceeds of graft," a statement from the EACC boss, Mohamud, read in part.
The governor is under investigation for allegations of conflict of interest, procurement irregularities, and misuse of office.
Nine other top county officials also had the premises raided, and they also face similar charges in the awarding of a Ksh230 million contract for the supply, delivery, installation, testing, training, commissioning, and support services of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
