Detectives summon Jimi Wanjigi over Nane Nane protests
Businessman Jimi Wanjigi. Photo/Videograb
Detectives have asked businessman Jimi Wanjigi to present himself for grilling in connection to the Nane Nane protests.
Police asked Mr Wanjigi to appear before them on August 19, 2024, at Nairobi Area DCI offices after they failed to arrest him at his house on August 8, 2024.
The summon follows the claim by the police that several teargas canisters and communication gadgets were found at his residence in Muthaiga, leading to increased scrutiny from law enforcement.
According to police reports, the items were found in an abandoned black four-wheel drive vehicle parked at Mr Wanjigi’s gate shortly before officials announced they were seeking his arrest.
Police attempts to arrest Mr Wanjigi at his home by a team of armed officers who broke into his house were thwarted when he was not found, but the businessman later obtained a court order preventing any immediate arrest.
The court on August 16, 2024, extended the orders stopping the police from arresting him.
Judge Bahati Mwamuye again extended the order to September 19, 2024, but said he could not issue an order stopping the registration of charges against Mr Wanjigi.
After he resurfaced, he claimed police committed crimes at his home in the name of looking for him.
“Stop looking for me in my house, you will never find me. Seven years ago, they looked for me in this house and they could not find me. Even now, if you look for me in this house you will not find me. Please, don’t do it again. You will be wasting your time,” he said.
In a separate legal filing, Mr Wanjigi strongly denied ownership of the vehicle from which police took the alleged evidence, saying he was being unfairly targeted to settle political scores.
The overnight raid at his home in Nairobi's posh Muthaiga estate was marked by more brutal physical assaults and destruction of property, according to his family.
Mr Wanjigi, the leader of the Safina party, has been a consistent critic of the Kenya Kwanza regime.
The family said at the time that the masked officers broke down the door, assaulted the family members and forced them to agree to a search of the house.
“We had no choice but to cooperate. They did a thorough search until about 4am. And we thought it was over until they returned again at 6am," said Mr Wanjigi's son, Maina.
The family's lawyer, Willis Otieno, said that when the police illegally entered the house, they forced the family to illegally consent to a search, “which they did not do, but the search was done anyway. Room by room, floor by floor,” he said.
Four people have since been charged and released on Sh100,000 over the issue of teargas canisters.
