Trouble for Dennis Itumbi’s cell-fie friends as police ponder arrests
Police were Friday night contemplating whether to summon 11 individuals who took selfies with the Secretary of Digital Media at State House Dennis Itumbi in one of the offices at Muthaiga Police Station.
Also, officers who were on duty Wednesday night might find themselves in hot soup after the investigating team accused them of granting access to Itumbi’s friends to the interiors of the station.
Itumbi and his friends are said to have held a party-like visit at the cells where they stayed until close to midnight. They later circulated selfies of the visit on social media.
INTERDICTED
Muthaiga Police Station Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Alphonse Kemengua has since been interdicted over the incident.
“For the 11 to be inside the offices it means that someone somewhere allowed them in and that is also the person or persons of interest in this matter,” Nairobi Police Boss Philip Ndolo told Nairobi News on phone.
Investigators following the matter insist there is need to question Itumbi’s visitors.
“They were inside the cells, how they ended up there is clear. They were allowed (in). But there is need of having them (to) tell us why they opted to take such a move,” a source privy to the investigations said.
In the selfies, Itumbi is seen seated at the farthest end with TV journalist Jacque Maribe while other friends surround them.
On top of a table nearby stood a Red Bull can and a bottle of water.
GOING VIRAL
The photos of the visit started going viral on social media as soon as Itumbi landed at Muthaiga Police Station.
At the time, Itumbi was supposed to be inside the police cells, having been questioned at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road.
According to the Police Act, Itumbi selfie friends risk imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or both if found guilty of disorderly conduct inside a police building.
Section 60 (1) of Act says that if “a person who, in any police building, police office lock-up or cell behaves in a riotous, indecent, disorderly, or insulting manner shall be guilty of an offence”.
Itumbi was on Wednesday morning arrested outside City Hall and taken to the DCI headquarters by a group of over 10 officers who were in three cars over links to DP William Ruto’s murder letter.
On Thursday, Itumbi told the court that he did not want to be taken to Kamkunji Police Station as the prosecution team had requested, saying the station is meant for hardcore criminals.