Man feted for delivering deadly explosive to police
Jubilee Party chairman Mureithi Kang'ara (left) and Leonard Maina at Kianyaga Stadium during Madaraka Day celebrations on October 20, 2016. Mr Maina recounts how he collected a grenade and kept it in his house overnight before handing it over to the police. He was declared a hero by local leaders. PHOTO | GEORGE MUNENE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Maina collected a grenade and handed it over to the police after keeping it on his bed side overnight.
- The explosive may have been left behind by colonialists during the Mau Mau uprising.
A boda boda operator was on Thursday praised and given a gift of cash for his actions that may have saved lives.
In 2014, Leonard Maina picked up a deadly explosive, kept it overnight wrapped in a leso and delivered it to the police the next morning.
When Mr Maina showed officers at the Kiandai Administration Police Post the grenade, they scampered for safety before ballistic experts detonated the bomb.
For his brave actions, political leaders declared Mr Maina a hero during Mashujaa Day celebrations at Kianyaga Stadium in Gichugu.
"He is really a hero and he should be awarded and honoured," said Jubilee Party county chairman Mureithi Kang'ara as he handed about Sh5,000 to Mr Maina.
"The police officers fled but this young man bravely and firmly held the explosive. He deserves a pat on the back," said Mr Kang'ara.
County Woman Representative Winnie Njuguna praised Mr Maina for his brave actions and gave him Sh2,000.
The explosive that Mr Maina stumbled on may have been left behind by colonialists during the Mau Mau uprising.
He said he kept the bomb on his bed side overnight and delivered it to law enforcement officers because he did not want to be branded a terrorist.
But when the officers saw Mr Maina holding the explosive in his bare hands, they panicked and fled.
"I was baffled when the security officers ran away when I tried to hand over the explosive to them," said Mr Maina, to the amusement of the audience.
Area Criminal Investigations Officer Susan Kirori confirmed that it was a grenade, which had been dug up and exposed by a tractor driver who was part of a road repair crew in the village.
"Although I had not been posted to the station by then I would like to confirm that the object was a grenade, which was later detonated," she told the Nation.
Ms Kirori noted that it was highly risky for the cyclist to handle a grenade the way he did and advised him not to repeat the mistake if he comes across such an explosive again.
