Goons who assaulted former NCBDA chairman should be brought to book

On April 30, 2018, Timothy Muriuki, the former Nairobi Central Business District Association chairman, called a press conference at a city hotel. At about the time he was ready to address the press conference, hoodlums walked in and forcefully stopped the meeting, ostensibly because they had received word Mr Muriuki was going to insult Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.

Clearly, the inference here was that they were acting on the governor's instructions.

In the full glare of media cameras, the group manhandled Muriuki for several minutes, throwing him to the ground and beating him up despite pleas from journalists not to harm him. Finally, Muriuki had to run for dear life, but not before losing some valuables. The individuals who assaulted him are still at large.

That the police service, with all its intelligence apparatus, is offering a reward of Sh500,000 for information leading to their arrest is perhaps the biggest joke of the year. It confirms the oft-feared illicit relationship and collusion between members of the police service and lawbreakers. There is no excuse whatsoever for not apprehending the thugs.

This case is akin to one highlighted early this year in which an 'untouchable' matatu tout in Nairobi was accused of beating up and harassing civilians without fear of arrest, and indeed the police could not arrest him because of his connections in high places.

Crime in Nairobi has shot up exponentially under Sonko’s watch. One wonders why, when he promised to transform the capital once he became governor.

Memories of the moment when Sonko, then the Nairobi senator, arrived at the Lee Funeral Home with bodyguards brandishing guns while an autopsy was being conducted on the body of Fidel Odinga are still fresh. He got away with that, perhaps because the police treated the incident as a misdemeanor.

Yet any lesser person doing the same would have been promptly arrested.

In the latest incident, however, things went too far. The tragedy is that the police know who these men are, but they are playing dumb. The police cannot let anyone - whether leaders or common wananchi - get away with such impunity and still expect the law to be upheld. The culprits must be brought to justice expeditiously.