Former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju in brawl with ex-GSU man ‘visiting’ his wife

Tony Ogunda (centre) is taken to Kilimani Police cells after being arrested for allegedly trespassing into Raphael Tuju’s home last night. BELOW: Raphael Tuju [PHOTO: MBUGUA KIBIRA/STANDARD]

By CAROLINE RWENJI and CYRUS OMBATI

NAIROBI; KENYA: Former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju was allegedly involved in a physical confrontation with the man he accused in court of breaking up his marriage.

Police investigators are considering whether to file charges against Mr Tuju for an alleged assault on Mr Tony Ogunda and malicious damage to his property on Thursday night.

This followed a confrontation at Tuju’s Upper Hill home involving armed bodyguards.

Charged in Kibera court

Mr Ogunda, a former General Service Unit police officer, was on Friday charged in a Kibera court with trespassing at the politician’s home. He was released on a cash bail of Sh500 after denying the charge of trespass.

The former officer has been named in a divorce petition filed by Tuju, who is seeking to legally end his 27-year marriage to Ruth Akinyi Wanjare, with whom the former presidential aspirant has three children.

Ogunda appeared in court in a blood-stained shirt and said he was assaulted within minutes of arriving at the Upper Hill home, to which he was allegedly invited by Tuju’s wife.

“Within five minutes of being in the house, I was assaulted by Mr Tuju and his bodyguards,” Mr Ogunda told officers at the Kilimani Police Station. “One of the bodyguards was holding a gun at me (sic).”

Mr Tuju, on the other hand, denied assaulting Ogunda and said he caught the accused trespassing in his home and had him detained while he called the police.

The one-time Foreign Affairs Minister says there is a restraining order in force barring the former GSU man from going anywhere near his homes.

“I did not assault the man who trespassed into my house,” he said “I only called the police to arrest him. We already have a divorce case (with my wife) pending in court and there is an order restraining him from coming to my home.”

In his divorce petition, Tuju accuses his wife of cheating with the GSU officer who had been assigned to guard his home. He claims in his petition that his wife entertained Mr Ogunda at his Karen home and has also rented a house for him.

Attacked without cause

On Friday, Ogunda insisted that he was attacked without cause by the former Cabinet Minister and his bodyguards. He added one of them trained a gun on him.

“I was from Nakuru and went to Mrs Tuju’s house,” he said. “I do not know if it was a trap (or not) because it was not even five minutes after I arrived that (Tuju) broke in the door and windows, came in with his security detail and started beating us up.”

Ogunda was also adamant that he was a guest of Tuju’s wife.

“It was not trespassing because I was invited by Mrs Tuju,” he stated. Kilimani OCPD Bernard Muli explained that Mr Ogunda was arrested because he failed to explain his presence at the politician’s home.

“We received a complaint from Tuju that there was somebody who had trespassed to his home. We sent our officers there and we managed to arrest one person who could not explain himself as to why he had gone there,” Mr Muli said.

He added Mr Ogunda had filed complaints of assault and malicious claims against Tuju which they are investigating.

Mr Ogunda has another case in court where he has been accused of sending Mr Tuju an offensive message and being in possession of fake currency.

He denied sending the offensive message on February 8, this year before senior principal magistrate Lucy Mbugua. He has also denied a second charge of being in possession of 18 pieces of papers resembling Sh1,000 note. He is out on a cash bail of Sh150, 000.