Police drawn into PNU billboard destruction row

Residents of Meru town woke up to a rude shock on January 21,2017 after seeing Party of National Unity (PNU) billboards destroyed.The billboards were destroyed on the eve of President Uhuru Kenyatta's visit in the county. [Photo: Peter Muthomi/Standard]

Party of National Unity (PNU) leaders have accused police of turning a blind eye to the destruction of their campaign billboards on Friday.

The party's senatorial aspirant Mugambi Imanyara, whose two billboards in Meru and Nkubu township were destroyed less than 200 metres from police stations, said the police knew who the culprits were but were reluctant to arrest them.

He claimed the two billboards cost him Sh3 million.

Three other billboards belonging to PNU were also destroyed on Friday night.

The city lawyer dismissed claims by Imenti North Police OCPD Sam Koskey that no complaint had been lodged against the incident as "hogwash".

"The offence took place 200 metres from the police and the culprits had to scale more than 20 metres to access the billboards, some located over business premises in an area that police routinely patrol," he said.

He also said he had called for a press conference where he named the suspects and their financiers according to his own intelligence.

"I don't know what else they are looking for because it is in the public domain that a Meru MP publicly asked Jubilee Party supporters to deface our billboards during the Meru JP launch."

He said he would not lodge a complaint with the police but would wait for them to arrest the culprits first.

"The law is very clear that the state is also a complainant in any criminal offence so they should not take us for fools," said the lawyer.