Juja MP George Koimburi.
Staff at Ellis Bar and Restaurant in Gatundu have recounted how Juja MP George Koimburi allegedly spent Sunday night at the entertainment joint and left early Monday morning.
In an interview with the Nation on Wednesday, after Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja detailed how the MP allegedly staged his kidnapping and spent the night at the hotel, staff said Mr Koimburi left the hotel at around 6:30 am on Monday.
He was found at a coffee farm in Githunguri that morning, unconscious. He has been admitted at Karen hospital in Nairobi since. His family says he was abducted by police and tortured.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and other political leaders visit Juja MP George Koimburi at Karen Hospital on May 26, 2025.
The restaurant’s staff gave an account that is in line with the official police narrative that the legislator, who was bundled into an awaiting Subaru vehicle shortly after a church service last Sunday, might have staged the entire abduction and his being dumped at a coffee farm in Kibichoi, in Githunguri sub-County.
The Nation arrived at the restaurant at around 4:55 pm on Wednesday and found a few patrons scattered across the seats enjoying some bottles of beer and meals.
As soon as we drove into the premises, two men approached the vehicle, evidently startled and inquired what the occupants of the vehicle wanted.
However, their faces relaxed as soon as they confirmed this reporter was not a police officer but had visited the premises to inquire about a few things regarding Mr Koimburi’s case.
'Drama, chaos
The MP’s case, they agreed, had created a lot of “drama” and “chaos,” especially with the several police vehicles that stormed the hotel on Wednesday morning as detectives came to question them to ascertain whether Mr Koimburi spent Sunday night at the establishment.
“On that issue, it is true that the Juja MP slept here on Sunday. When he came with his friends around lunch time, we did not think much about it because he was a customer just like the rest. They drank some alcohol and ate here the entire time before they retired to bed,” one of the male staff said.
The MP, according to the staff, slept at room one at the accommodation wing of the restaurant but woke up very early and left with his two male friends who were with him from the previous day.
Also Read: IG Kanja: There's no evidence Juja MP Koimburi was abducted, law to take course if he's lying
The staff said they were surprised to hear that the same legislator who was their patron had been kidnapped.
“The supervisor who was here that Sunday was taken today (Wednesday) to record a statement. She is yet to come back. We just hope we are not in trouble with the government,” another staff member said.
CCTV footage
However, when the Nation crew requested to view the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showing the legislator and his friends at the restaurant, they said the cameras were not operational.
Mr Kanja, at a press briefing at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters on Tuesday, revealed that a total of five suspects have been arrested in the ongoing investigations to demystify the alleged police abduction.
The police boss then went on to narrate how the MP might have abducted himself adding that the action was orchestrated by his allies who have already been arrested and recorded the statement.
DCI boss Mohamed Amin claimed the fake abduction is related to the ongoing political tension in the country, and that they opted to use a Subaru vehicle to bring the attention of the public that it was the police who abducted him.
“This vehicle was purposely hired to conceal the operation.”
From the point of abduction, the Subaru vehicle was driven for about two kilometers, before the MP jumped into another vehicle, which was driven to the Ellis bar and Restaurant, along Kiganjo, Gatundu, DCI Amin said.
