The police have a message for Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi: surrender yourself to authorities.
Hours after after the police laid siege at his Muthaiga home and towed one of his vehicles away, Acting Police IG Gilbert Masengali has indicated that the businessman-cum-politician is now a wanted man.
"Our intelligence indicated that there were security threats who planned to infiltrate today's protests and cause havoc. Today, we intercepted a personal vehicle (Prado) in Muthaiga at the residence of Jimi Wanjigi. In the vehicle, we recovered four tear gas cannisters," he claimed.
The car that police towed away from Jimi Wanjigi's home in Muthaiga.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
Police camp outside Jimi Wanjigi's home in Muthaiga on August 8, 2024.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
Earlier, Mr Wanjigi's lawyer Nelson Osiemo accused the police of harassment after they surrounded his client's home for hours amid Nane Nane protests.
Jimmy Wanjigi's lawyer Nelson Osiemo (in blue suit) addresses journalists outside his client's home where police were camped.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
“You know the political history. It is just political harassment that every Kenyan and now him is facing. He has faced this before. We are prepared for any eventuality,” Mr Osiemo said.
"It's not shocking. It's not the first time we've been raided,” Jimi Wanjigi’s son, Maina, told journalists.
By press time, Mr Wanjigi had not come out publicly to address Masengali's allegations.
In 2017, Mr Wanjigi’s home was raided in similar fashion in an operation that lasted over 48 hours. When he resurfaced after the ordeal, he termed it an “absolute persecution”.
He further claimed that during the raid, police officers assaulted his wife, Irene Nzisa Wanjigi, for recording video of breakages and destruction happening in their house.
