Mystery as stolen State Lodge chairs are recovered in county hotel

• Police have recovered six seats stolen from Nakuru State Lodge
• They were found in a hotel owned by a senior county official.
• The chairs went missing between October and November last year

Police yesterday said they had recovered six seats stolen from Nakuru State Lodge in a hotel owned by a senior county official.

A detective who spoke to The Standard on condition of anonymity said the chairs went missing between October and November last year.

“It is suspected the chairs were stolen from State House and some found their way to a hotel owned by a top official working in the county government,” said the officer.

Executive seats

During the raid, officers visited the hotel located on Nakuru’s Kenyatta Avenue where the chairs were recovered and later went to the official’s home.

Confirming the incident, Nakuru OCPD Samuel Obara said 60 executive chairs had been stolen, but only six were recovered.

Mr Obara said police had been working with detectives after the crime was reported.

“We raided the hotel after getting information that some of the missing chairs were at the hotel,” said Obara.

During the raid, the hotel’s manager was also arrested and taken to Nakuru Central Police Station for interrogation.

The OCPD said the disappearance of the chairs from a highly-guarded premises was a mystery and that they had launched investigations into the matter.

However, he was reluctant to give more details, saying it would prejudice investigations as the matter was sensitive.

“Sixty chairs went missing from the State Lodge in Nakuru and we are investigating how they ended up at the hotel,” he said.

The police boss added that issues concerning State House were sensitive and security officers could be implicated in the matter because the place is highly-guarded.

Further, he said a brief on the crime was expected to be handed to police headquarters in Nairobi who would later brief the media.

“This issue is sensitive and should be handled with care, that is why police headquarters will brief you,” he said.

The Standard team visited the hotel yesterday at around 9.30am to get more details about the incident but nobody was willing to speak.

At around 11.30am, the team went back but found the place closed.

“This hotel closed immediately you left,” a guard at an adjacent building told our team.

The OCPD referred The Standard to County Director of Criminal Investigations Jeremiah Musyoki for more details.

Being investigated

Mr Musyoki, however, said the matter was being investigated.

The county official dismissed claims that the chairs had been found at a hotel and referred this writer to the police. “Talk to the police because that is false information,” said the official before disconnecting the phone call.