Kega reports to police day after alleged attack in Ol Joro Orok

EALA MP Kanini Kega's damaged vehicle after an alleged attack in Kasuku, Nyandarua County, while leaving a DCP campaign rally. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member Kanini Kega arrived at Oljororok police station on Tuesday, July 14, to record a statement following an alleged attack a day earlier.

Kega alleges he was attacked and his vehicle vandalised on Monday, July 13, after attending a Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) rally at the Ol Kalou Arboretum in the Kasuku area of Ol Joro Orok, Nyandarua County.

The legislator claims he was pursued by armed police officers from Ol Kalou to Kasuku, where he abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot into a nearby house.

More than three vehicles carrying armed officers chased him while repeatedly pointing firearms at him, he alleges.

"I managed to escape and take cover," said Kega.

Lawyer Ndegwa Wahome, who was present at the scene, corroborated the account, saying officers turned on Kega's vehicle after failing to find him.

"The officers used the butts of their guns to destroy the vehicle," said Wahome, adding that a broken rifle butt had been handed to the officer commanding station at Kasuku police station.

Nyandarua County Commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa has said no official report had been filed regarding the alleged attack at the time and has directed the Ol Kalou security team to investigate.

Kega's allegations come at the height of rising insecurity linked to the campaign period, with politicians accused of hiring goons to infiltrate opponents' events.

Last week, People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua condemned an attack on her convoy at Gatoto Primary School in Mukuru kwa Reuben, alleging police failed to provide security despite a High Court order.

"Today's events are not merely about Gatoto Primary School," said Karua, adding, “They raise a broader national question about whether Kenyans can continue to rely on public institutions to enforce court decisions impartially and protect those exercising their constitutional rights."

On Sunday, July 12, rival groups of youths clashed outside St Stephen ACK Cathedral in Kisumu during a fundraising service attended by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Siaya Governor James Orengo, leaving two dead.