Former Laikipia North MP Mathew Lempurkel arrested

Former Laikipia North MP Mathew Lempurkel. [Mose Sammy, Standard]

Former Laikipia North Member of Parliament Mathew Lempurkel was Wednesday morning arrested at his Ongata Rongai home in Kajiado County.

Lempurkel who spoke to The Standard on phone, said he is being held at Integrity Centre, Nairobi.

“They arrested me at my Rongai home at dawn. I had not received any communication about their coming, and maybe they were tracking my phone” he told The Standard.

“They were about four officers and we used their vehicle from my home to Integrity centre. They have not told me about the arrest” he said.

Reasons for his arrest were not clear at the time of publishing, although Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya on Wednesday morning said they were looking for the ex-MP and two other politicians on suspicion of fueling banditry attacks in Laikipia County.

Lempurkel said that he has never stepped in his home county for more than one year now.

Asked if the detectives mentioned anything in to do with bandit attacks in Laikipia, the former legislator said that he has never left the city for a year now, adding that he had been denied to step out to address the press.

Ole Mpuker’s arrest comes a day after bandits attacked Merigwit village about an hour after Natembeya launched a security operation at Ol Moran trading centre.

In a bold attack, the bandits torched Merigwiti Primary School before engaging security officers in a gunfight then fled from the scene. The institution is among those closed down due to insecurity in the county.

Natembeya who arrived minutes after the attack said: "We will be ruthless and we will flush out all the bandits from the region. We cannot tolerate this height of criminality."

On Monday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i announced a major security operation in the area and pronounced a 6pm to 6am curfew.