A man sneaked into the offices of Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen recently and even stayed there for nearly five hours in an incident that has puzzled investigators.
The mystery man spent time in the minister’s office, on the 20th floor of Nyayo House in Nairobi, before strolling out without raising questions. Nyayo House is one of the government’s most sensitive buildings.
The Interior CS has an office in Harambee House, but also operates from Nyayo House, where some senior officers under him are based. The immigration and citizen services, as well as the Nairobi regional administration, are some of the key offices based at Nyayo House.
The Nation is aware of CCTV footage showing that the suspect, who is yet to be identified, went in on Saturday, January 10, at 10.45 pm and walked out at 3.40 am, the following day.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation, but who spoke in confidence as they are not allowed to comment publicly, said that on that night, fumigation was ongoing in the building, and initial suspicions are that the intruder took advantage of the less rigorous checks on civilians accessing the building to execute his mission. It was only after staff at the office reported to work the following morning that one official noticed the mess created by the intruder and informed the head of security.
The Interior CS, being one of the most powerful State officers, enjoys high-level protection in his homes and offices.
The CS sits in the nine-member National Security Council, chaired by the President, and is the ultimate decision-making organ on Kenya’s security. The other members of the Council are the Deputy President, the Defence and Foreign Affairs cabinet secretaries, the Attorney-General, the Chief of Kenya Defence Forces, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service, and the Inspector-General of Police.
Nyayo House in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The CS’s office, Nation understands, was in disarray when the staff reported to work. Some of the items in the office appeared to have been tampered with and even rearranged.
The intrusion, which has now put the spotlight on officers from an Administration Police department called the Security of Government Buildings (SGB) Unit, has since been handed over to Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers from the Nairobi Area Police Station, together with officers from Kilimani Police Station for investigations.
Separately, an inquiry has been opened to establish how the intruder managed to beat the tight security at Nyayo House and gain entry into the Cabinet Secretary’s office, then left freely.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
Photo credit: Pius Maundu | Nation
An official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Nation that investigators managed to recover CCTV footage showing a tall man dressed in a black pair of jeans, who has been identified as the main suspect. He used a black cap to hide his face while walking out of the lifts that night.
Nyayo House, which gained notoriety in years gone by for hosting torture chambers, is one of the most guarded government buildings. It is the workplace of numerous senior government officials and offices.
Other government offices located in the building include those of the Immigration Principal Secretary, Nairobi Regional commissioner and security chief, the Director of Immigration, and intelligence officials, among others.
SGB officers guard the building on a 24-hour basis. The building is also under watch by private security guards, who are contracted to provide additional protection to the staff and workers.
A highly-placed source, familiar with the investigations, told the Nation that on the day of the intrusion, some of the security staff were allowed to go home during fumigation of the building that is said to have started around 9 pm and went on until 5 am.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity and referred to CCTV footage, said investigations had revealed that the mystery man walked in and out casually without being challenged.
The man’s motive remains unknown, but a police insider said he could have been on a mission to find some information, as two desktop computers in the office appeared to have been interfered with. This, however, remains the subject of investigation.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that the intruders were looking for information,” said one officer, who spoke to the Nation in confidence.
The Nation reached out to Mr Murkomen and his communication team several times on Friday, January 23, and Saturday, January 24, but our mobile phone text messages, calls and WhatsApp messages to their known numbers had not been responded to despite reminders.
Police spokesperson Michael Nyaga Muchiri was also not available for comment after senior officers declined to comment on record but referred us to him.
We sought to know whether the ministry has finalised investigations on the security breach, and if yes, what the findings were. We also sought to know what actions, administrative or otherwise, had been taken since the incident took place, and lastly, what other measures had been taken to avoid a recurrence of such incidents in future. We will include their comments in a subsequent article if and when they respond.
Nyayo House, Nairobi.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Another source told the Nation that Administration Police bosses had ordered a reshuffle of officers posted to Nyayo House to streamline security operations at the building.
Nyayo House is a building whose story is tied at the hip with the good and bad of Kenya’s history. Record books show that the building plan was approved in 1973 by the Ministry of Public Works and Ngotho Architects. At the inception stage, it was to be called Nairobi House. However, the political realities of the time gave it the name “Nyayo”. This is because its construction began in 1979, a year after Daniel arap Moi had become president. When it was completed in 1983, with a Sh220 million bill for taxpayers, it was given a name aligned to Mr Moi’s “Nyayo” philosophy, which implied following the footsteps of founding president Jomo Kenyatta. Nyayo House has two sections –the North Wing and the South Wing–and is 84 metres high with 27 floors.
In 2003, an architect revealed that some of the rooms initially designed to store cash and sensitive documents were the ones that the rogue security agents converted into torture chambers.
