Revealed: Why police officers did not stop invasion on Uhuru Kenyatta’s farm
Guards who are tasked with taking care of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Northlands farm at Kamakis on the Eastern Bypass in Kiambu County, were turned away by police officers at Gatong’ora Police Post when they went to report Monday’s invasion of the expansive farm, Nairobi News can now reveal.
In an exclusive interview with Nairobi News, the guards said they were on duty on Monday morning and when the goons descended on the farm they had no option but to flee.
“We made the decision to rush to the nearest station here, which is Gatong’ora Police Post, but the officers turned as away saying such an incident was beyond them,” said one of the guards.
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Another guard said they did not want to risk confronting the unruly youth who were armed with machetes and clubs. He said they opted to head to the opposite side of the farm and watch from a safe distance.
“We opted to flee from where they were cutting down trees and watch from a safe distance,” the guard said.
The two guards spoke in confidence as they are not authorised to address the media. On Tuesday, the management of the farm said goons stole about 1,400 goats and sheep, adding that they had managed to repossess the land from the goons who had already erected structures claiming they had taken over the land.
Plans to raid the Kenyatta property were mooted last Friday and firmed up by Sunday evening, Nairobi News established.
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Two MPs, a former governor and a popular Kiambu musician are among those who reportedly played leading roles in mobilising the gang last Friday when the plot to counter Monday’s demonstrations was hatched. The youths were recruited from Kiambu and Nairobi.
Nairobi News understands they were ferried from Ruiru, Githurai 45 and Gatundu South in Kiambu as well as Ruai, Kayole and Mathare in Nairobi. Sources said they were each paid Sh3,000 and handed machetes and a powersaw that was used to mow down trees at the vast farm.
However, Ruiru Sub-county police boss Alexander Shikondi also denied reports of prior intelligence of the raid on the farm, saying, “we are treating the issue as [one] of great interest.”
Mr Shikondi said the government remains committed to safeguarding life and property “and I urge all to cease baseless speculations and let the multi-agency team probing the incident do its part”.