Mavoko MP Patrick Makau released after grilling by DCI

Mavoko MP Patrick Makau has been released after his arrest early Thursday morning at his home in Karen, Nairobi.

Makau’s house was raided at 4 am, where detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) took him to the directorate's offices in Kiambu.

The MP was released around midday after being grilled by detectives over vandalism of the Nairobi Expressway at the Mlolongo toll station during Wednesday’s anti-government protests called by the opposition to picket against the high cost of living.

Makau was directed to present himself to the detectives on Friday.

At least nine people are reported to have died in the protests, including four in Mlolongo, two in Kitengela and one in Emali in Makueni County.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki on Wednesday castigated opposition chief Raila Odinga for being the "architect of today’s lawlessness and impunity," while referring to the former prime minister as the poster boy for violent politics.

"From the 1982 attempted coup-de-tat to the 2007/08 post-election violence, this same politician and his collaborators, then and now, are associated with risky politics that has occasionally plunged our country into near destruction," said Kindiki.

The interior minister added that persons who partook in the demonstrations, both directly and indirectly, will be dealt with in accordance with the law.