Raila rushed to safety in Nairobi grenade scare

Prime Minister Raila Odinga was on Tuesday evacuated from his office after a hand grenade was found nearby.

Mr Odinga was meeting Chief Justice Willy Mutunga when they were escorted to safety by security officers.

A plumber doing repairs of the drainage system discovered the grenade in the yard of the building housing Mr Odinga on Harambee Avenue.

The office is situated in the heart of government, across the street from Harambee House, where President Kibaki has an office.

Also nearby is the Vice President’s Office, Police Headquarters, The Treasury, Central Bank of Kenya, Attorney General’s chambers and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The plumber immediately informed police who ordered staff at the PM’s offices to evacuate. The yard is situated at the rear entrance of the building where there is construction debris.

The PM and Justice Mutunga were taken to safety in two vehicles, with an escort car leading the way through Harambee Avenue, Taifa Road, and City Hall way before they joined Kimathi Street.

The rest of the staff was ordered to leave their offices as the security team searched the building from top to bottom.

The midmorning incident led to a massive security operation with police ringing the building. Two white German shepherd sniffer dogs were brought in to help in the search.

Top security officials, including CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro and AP Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua, arrived at the scene shortly after Mr Odinga and Mr Mutunga were evacuated.

Bomb experts from the Department of Defence and disaster operation officials co-ordinated activities at the scene.

An expert picked the object in the white wrapping it was found in and took it to a security vehicle which sped away through Harambee Avenue and Parliament Road.

The experts spent close to four hours searching through the premises with the help of sniffer dogs.

Deputy police spokesman Charles Owino later told reporters that the object had been taken to the DoD headquarters for examination.

Mr Owino did not explain whether the grenade had the safety pin on. “It is too early to say what it could do, but I would say this is a deadly object.” he said.

Mr Owino said the incident did not interrupt the operations of the PM’s office. The discovery of the explosive device raises questions on how sensitive buildings are guarded.

Police will be trying to establish how the grenade found its way into a compound which is guarded round-the-clock. All the gates are manned by armed police and visitors are checked on entry.
However, a soldier who requested anonymity so as not to compromise his position, explained that the grenade could have been thrown into the compound.

“This type of weapon can be carried with ease. So it is possible that someone could throw it,” he said.

However, the grenade appeared to be in a spot where it could only have been placed by someone with access to the basement of the building.

A hand grenade is designed to explode on impact after the safety pin is pulled.