Rongai robbery: Househelp questioned as CS Matiang'i transfers officers

Detectives spent the better part of Tuesday piecing together evidence in pursuit of perpetrators of an incident in which a woman was on Sunday morning robbed at gunpoint on arriving home in Kandisi in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County.

It emerged that the woman’s husband had travelled for business on the day of the robbery, whose CCTV footage has since gone viral, attracting nationwide condemnation.

The gun-totting criminals had just robbed two houses across the street when the woman drove in. CCTV footage shows the woman driving her brand new Mercedes Benz E350 into her family’s residence around 2:21am on Sunday. The compound is heavily fortified, complete with an electric fence, alarms and cameras. Another woman, whom we have identified as a house help, opened the gate.

As the house help was rolling back the gate, a man armed with a pistol ran from a house across the street. In panic, the house help ran towards the house, leaving the gate partially open.

Rogue police officer

In total, six men including one whom detectives suspect was a rogue police officer, took part in the robbery. It is further suspected that the said rogue officer was behind the robbery, prompting the Interior ministry to mount a crackdown in the area.

“A new team will be brought to cover the entire Kandisi area and work hand in hand with the local police. All criminal activities must be recorded in the OB and forwarded to my office by Monday evening,” Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i ordered when he visited the area on Monday.

Nestled within Rimpa, an affluent area characterised by huge mansions off the Ngong-Kiserian road, Kandisi has in recent months been hit by a spate of robberies, mostly targeting residents driving into their homes.

Police believe the robberies are linked to a particular gang that has been carrying out attacks in the area.  A man believed to have been sent by the gang to withdraw Sh240,000 that had been transferred from a victim of another robbery in the area over the weekend was arrested on Monday night in Mwiki, a trading centre in Kasarani, Nairobi.

In custody

Mr Julius Mulwa is currently in custody at the Kasarani Police Station together with an M-Pesa shop attendant. The two are assisting detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters, who have since taken over the case.

The two suspects were presented in court yesterday and miscellaneous orders given allowing the police to detain them.

On Monday, Dr Matiang’i ordered a mass transfer of officers at Kandisi Police Station after residents complained about deteriorating security in the neighbourhood.  Additionally, the CS ordered all bars and liquor shops shut. Forensic detectives and officers from the DCI’s Serious Crimes Unit spent the whole day yesterday combing the house that was robbed on Sunday morning for evidence.

The detectives extracted CCTV footage and recorded statements from witnesses.

The woman’s husband, Mr Geofrey Otieno, had travelled out of Nairobi for work when the robbery happened. It is only his wife, whose name has not been released for security reasons, two children and a house help who were present when the robbery happened.

Statements from neighbours

Police also questioned Mr Otieno’s wife and the house help for the second time. They also took statements from two neighbours who were also robbed the same night. Among the things that were stolen was the woman’s hand bag, ATM cards, cash, jewellery and electronic items, all of which were taken away in the full glare of cameras.

Five such attacks have been recorded in the occurrence book at Kandisi police station in the past three months. The neighbouring estates have also been rocked by insecurity.

“Robbers have been attacking our homes almost daily,” said Ms Nancy Njoki, a resident.

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