Hours of fierce battle as Ruto home under siege

**Officers and residents outside DP Ruto's home in Sugoi. (Photo: Peter Ochieng)**

In one of the most brazen security breaches in the country’s history, the Deputy President William Ruto’s Sugoi home in Uasin Gishu County was attacked by armed men and placed under siege for hours.

There were conflicting reports that three attackers were subdued and killed after a six-hour gun-fight, but another source from the DP’s office later said an elite paramilitary police was waiting for nightfall to flush out the attackers.

But a statement released by Inspector General Joseph Boinnet at 8.45pm Saturday said a lone man attacked a police officer with a machete before he hid in a building under construction at the gate.

“Specialised forces have been mobilised to deal with the intruder,” said Mr Boinnet

“They are at a vantage position and police were finding it difficult to engage them but they will be dealt with under the cover of darkness because the officers have night vision equipment,” he said.

The motive of the attack is still unknown but the gunmen, who according to eye witnesses numbered four, gained access into the DP’s residence at about 11am about 30 minutes after he had left for a campaign rally in the neighbouring Trans-Nzoia County.

According to reports, four men, two riding on a motorbike and the others on foot, went to the sentry gate and told a police officer that people inside Ruto’s home owed them money for clothes and other items sold to them.

One whipped a machete and stabbed an officer who questioned them on the neck and hands before they grabbed his gun and demanded keys to the armoury.

They then headed for the second gate, about 100 metres away but were repulsed by another officer who shot at the intruders.

Sensing danger, the gunmen dashed back to the sentry area, where they opened the armory and began exchanging fire with General Service Unit officers.

Villagers told Sunday Standard that some traders had been frequenting the area recently selling shoes, jackets, trousers and cheap perfume.

“We do not know if people from Ruto’s home bought their wares, but it is possible because they were behaving like ordinary traders we meet on the streets and were quite friendly,” said a neighbour who declined to give his name.

It therefore appears that they had done proper surveillance and knew that they could easily overpower the lone GSU guard and gain access to the amoury located next to the sentry area.

There were many farm workers in the compound at the time of the attack.

“Thank God they didn’t get to the house because they could have held many people hostage and we could have had a situation like the one we witnessed in Garissa or Kapenguria,” a heavily armed police man was overheard telling a colleague.

By mid-day, scores of villagers armed with bows and arrows had rushed to the scene but were barred from entering the compound where gunfire was renting the air.

At 5pm, the Sunday Standard team was told by a senior police officer in Nairobi and another official who was with the DP in Kitale that three of the attackers had been neutralised while the fourth had suffered life threatening injuries.

As darkness enveloped the area, police warned residents to vacate as gunshots rent the air.

Among the people in the home was a personal assistant of DP’s wife Rachel, farm workers and domestic workers, who escaped through a different gate.

The first batch of GSU and Recce squad officers arrived by road at 2pm, followed by another team of 12 who were flown from Ruiru by helicopter.

Until late evening, police did not comment on the attack and no official statement was forthcoming from the government. President Uhuru Kenyatta and the DP neither issued any communication.

There were conflicting reports on the number of attackers earlier in the day as witnesses said they saw three men but it la ter emerged they were four, before the IG said there was only one gunman.

Ruto left in the morning by helicopter for campaigns in Trans-Nzoia County. None of his close family members were also in the home located about three kilometres from the main Webuye-Eldoret highway.

The home is located 100 metres from the recently tarmacked Tapsagoi-Turbo Road that joins the main Eldoret- Webuye Highway.

It therefore means it could have taken the attackers a short time to reach the DP’s house.

The DP’s house is surrounded by an electric fence and enclosed between gum trees. The red-tiled house is visible from the main gate, which is guarded 24-hours by GSU officers.

There are also several other gates leading to the DP’s expansive farm, which has a banana plantation, napier grass among other crops.

The first batch of Recce squad officers to arrive comprised the presidential guard. The second batch arrived in the recently acquired Kenya Police helicopter, which first overflew the compound and landed at a nearby school.

The attack is puzzling as the DP is the most guarded after the President, and his personal security detail is drawn from some of the elite forces.

Among the first people to arrive at the scene was Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter and his Kapseret counterpart, Oscar Sudi.