Four days after Lands Chief Administrative Secretary Kimani Ngunjiri was involved in daylight gun drama in which two people were seriously injured, the former Bahati legislator remains a free man.
The CAS was this week summoned by the police, and later disarmed. The incident has attracted condemnation from across the country. He was involved in an altercation with a family in Kwa Tom village, Bahati Constituency, over land.
Civil society organisations continue to pile pressure on the authorities to arrest the former lawmaker. The Kenya Land Alliance condemned the incident and called for Mr Ngunjiri’s prosecution.
“Kenya Land Alliance has been drawn to an appalling incident that occurred on Monday in Bahati, Nakuru County, where Lands Chief Administrative Secretary Kimani Ngujiri got involved in a gunfight with a local family over a piece of land. We would like to roundly condemn the illegal actions of the CAS and rebuke in totality the gross abuse of authority that he displayed,” said KLA chief executive officer Faith Alubbe.
“It is sad that a CAS in charge of the Land ministry can go and intimidate communities in Nakuru simply because he is in a position of power. It is also sad that he can use the privileges he accrues from his office like being a legal gun owner against communities that he should be protecting. We demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of the CAS to deter others from being careless with weapons. His gun should also be withdrawn completely. He doesn’t deserve owning a gun.”
Social Watch, another civil society group, yesterday demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of the CAS. “The police should move swiftly and arrest Mr Ngunjiri. His firearm licence should also be revoked forthwith. The CAS is not above the law,” said Mr James Mugo, its executive director.
But even as pressure continues to pile on the authorities to arrest and charge Mr Ngunjiri, the police, who had earlier embarked on investigations, yesterday appeared to distance themselves from the matter. Senior officers in Nakuru remained cagey about the issue.
For instance, Nakuru County Police Commander Zachary Kimani when contacted declined to comment and instead referred the Sunday Nation to the sub-county police commander.
“I have been busy and have not got a chance to get an update on the matter. You should contact the police at the sub-county level who have been investigating the matter.”
County Criminal Investigations Officer Hassan Adan, on the other hand, said he visited the scene in the presence of the county police commander, whom he said is mandated to address the media. “Please, reach out to the county police commander for more information,” said Mr Adan.
In Bahati, a senior police source revealed to the Sunday Nation that they could not comment because their boss had yet to give directions. “To be sincere, if my boss has chosen not to brief the media, it will be against the protocol for me to start commenting on the same.”
But another police source claimed yesterday that the file had been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. “The DCI completed their investigations and the file has been handed over to the DPP for perusal and further directions,” said the source.
Earlier in the week, Mr Ngunjiri recorded a statement with the police before he was disarmed. During the confrontation, a man, identified as Lucas Onyango, was shot in the shoulder and seriously injured. He was treated in hospital and discharged. Some eyewitnesses said Mr Onyango was not involved in the confrontation.
“Onyango was just caught up in a confrontation between the CAS and residents over a controversial parcel of land in the area. The former MP was firing in the air to scare away the irate residents,” said James Kimani.
Mr Ngunjiri admitted that he fired a shot to scare a mob that was baying for his blood. “I had gone to the farm to supervise tilling of the land when a crowd of irate residents confronted me. The residents, who were carrying machetes, axes and other weapons, threatened to attack me; therefore, l was forced to fire a shot to save my life,” Mr Ngunjiri stated.
Police officers collected two spent cartridges from the scene, which the residents claim were discharged by Ngunjiri’s firearm, during the fracas.
Mr Ngunjiri is said to have stormed the land on Monday morning with an intention to reclaim it from a woman identified as Ms Susan Murugi.
The controversial half an acre parcel of land is being claimed by Mr Ngunjiri and the 68-year-old Ms Murugi.
The land is also part of the expansive 560-acre land also being claimed by Endao, a land buying company.
In a video taken by the residents, Mr Ngunjiri was seen confronting Ms Murugi and later her daughter before the fracas ensued.
In 2013, the government withdrew the then Bahati MP’s firearm licence,after he was involved in a scuffle with a traffic police officer.
The then Chief Firearms Licencing Officer Mr D B Yaah asked the then TNA MP to return four weapons that were in his possession. The guns included a revolver, a shotgun and two rifles.
