Four Recce squad officers attached to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s security die in road accident

MARSABIT: Four police officers attached to the President Uhuru Kenyatta’s security team died following a road accident along the Isiolo-Marsabit highway.

The advance security team was headed for Loyangalani district, Marsabit West Sub County on Tuesday when their vehicle’s tyre burst.

Police headquarters said the four who were officers from the elite Recce squad of General Service Unit had been deployed to carry out a security surveillance ahead of Uhuru's visit to the area on Thursday.

The president is set to officiate the construction of a wind power plant, the Lake Turkana Wind Power project.

A fifth officer was also injured following the incident and is in critical condition, his colleagues said.

Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Gideon Amalla said the rear right tyre of the Landcruiser vehicle the officers were travelling in burst, forcing it to roll.

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“They were headed for Loyangalani when the accident happened. We lost four officers while a fifth was flown to Nairobi for treatment,” said Amalla.

He added the accident occurred at about 9 am on Tuesday in Soit area, approximately 11 kilometres from Sere Olipi Township in Samburu County.

Amalla said the four officers died on the spot while one officer was taken to Wamba hospital with injuries. The bodies were also airlifted to Nairobi.

The ground breaking of Lake Turkana Wind Power project is set for Thursday with the president officiating.

The first 90MW of electricity out of the total 300MW to be commissioned by September next year.

The plant will generate 310 MW of electricity, thereby increasing Kenya’s power generating capacity by 20 percent.

The wind farm sits on 40,000 acres in Marsabit and will comprise of 365 wind turbines each with a capacity of 850 KW.

The first 50 to 90 MW from the project will be ready for injection into the national grid by September 2016, with the estimated time for full completion of the project to be two years.