A police constable attached to the Presidential Escort Unit has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 36-year-old woman in Kirinyaga County on Tuesday, November 16.
The officer, who is based at the Ruiru General Service Unit (GSU) camp, was apprehended in the company of two other individuals after a woman raised an alarm attracting the attention of Kutus' residents.
The officer is part of the team tasked with providing security and protection to the President and the First Family. The same unit is the one that provides security to the Deputy President and on special occasions, they are tasked to protect the visiting Heads of States.
Confirming the arrest, Gichugu Sub County Police Commander, Anthony Mbogo, noted that the presidential escort aide had masterminded the whole scheme where they were forcing the woman to withdraw cash from a local bank when she raised an alarm.
The police boss also revealed that the officer was being hunted for deserting his duties since March this year.
"The officer was declared a deserter in the national police service vide Prescott Nairobi signal," Mbogo stated.
The presidential escort aide and the other two were presented at the Gichugu Law Courts on Tuesday, November 16. The detectives working on the case told the court to allow them to hold the suspects for seven more days for further interrogation.
The court granted them their wish and the accused will be presented in court on November 23, 2021. Currently, they are being detained at the Kianyaga Police Station.
Their arrest and prosecution comes just a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i, confirmed that some security officers are being hired to commit criminal offenses.
Matiang’i noted that the government was aware of officers who were privately hired as hitmen to settle personal feuds, promising to take action against the culprits whom he says, are just a handful.
“The acts of a few officers should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of an entire force. We will keep on ridding the service for rogue elements to set examples and to remind everyone that it is a civilian government that does not believe in killing its own citizens,” his statement read in part.
This was after meeting Muslim leaders over increased cases of kidnapping and disappearances in the country.
“We will sit down and agree on where the truth lies. We want people to put out information on what they know because this constant blame on the police and other state agents should come to an end. It will be an open, absolutely candid process,” he insisted.
