No headway in the search for President’s car
What you need to know:
- The vehicle was one of those that escorted President Uhuru Kenyatta to the JKIA.
- It was driven back to State House before the driver took it to his home.
Special police units mobilised to find a stolen Presidential Escort Unit car are yet to make headway.
The search was extended to outside Nairobi with special focus on the border towns after reports that the car may have been driven to a neighbouring country.
The vehicle was one of those that escorted President Uhuru Kenyatta to the JKIA. It was driven back to State House before the driver took it to his home. He lost it to carjackers before reaching his house.
Nairobi County police commander Benson Kibue on Friday said Chief Inspector David Machui Maina was driving into his compound in Utawala, Nairobi when four armed men confronted him.
They forced him into the back seat and drove off. They abandoned him a few metres from the Administration Police Training College in Embakasi six hours later.
STAFF IDENTITY
The gunmen asked the officer whether the car belonged to him. Mr Machui told them it belonged to the Judiciary. The officer was not armed and did not have his staff identity card.
The victim said that the attackers did not talk much as they drove around the city. They did not also commit any other crime.
One of them was masked and for the period they held him, the masked man did not utter a word, pointing to the possibility that he knew the victim.
Police records indicate that Mr Machui was robbed of Sh50,000 but State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Friday said the officer lost Sh60,000. The officer also lost his mobile phone, an LG400, watch, and clothes.
The dark blue BMW 735, registered as GK A374E was purchased in 2000. However, it had a civilian number plate KAW 479Y at the time it was stolen.
“The vehicle was used purely for police duties,” Mr Esipisu said and dismissed reports that the vehicle was armoured and was part of the presidential fleet.
