Reprieve for businessman Jimi Wanjigi as court bars police from arresting him

Businessman Jimi Wanjigi can breathe a sigh of relief after the High Court in Nairobi on Friday issued orders barring the police from arresting and detaining him.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye certified the matter that was filed in court on Thursday as urgent and directed that it be mentioned on August 16, 2024.

“Pending the inter-partes hearing and determination of the Application dated 08/08/2024, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued restraining the Respondents jointly and severally, their servants, agents, or third parties acting under the direction or authority of the Respondents from detaining, arresting, or restraining the liberty and freedom of movement of the Petitioner/Applicant, Jimi Wanjigi,” read the court orders.

“In the event that the Respondents jointly or severally, their servants, agents, or third parties acting under the direction or authority of the Respondents have as at the date and time of the issuance of this Court Order detained, arrested, or restrained the liberty and free movement of the Petitioner/Applicant; a further conservatory order be and is hereby issued directing the Respondents jointly and severally, their servants, agents, or third parties acting under the direction or authority of the Respondents to immediately free the Petitioner/Applicant and to take all necessary measures to ensure the same; pending the inter-partes hearing and determination of the Application dated 08/08/2024.”

In the case, Wanjigi had moved to court seeking to block his arrest over involvement in the widely publicised ‘Nane Nane’ protests staged in Nairobi on Thursday.

The former presidential candidate claimed that police teargassed him and pursued him to his home on 44 Muthaiga Road, and thereafter attempted to forcefully enter his residence to arrest him.

Wanjigi has also denied police reports that items including teargas canisters were allegedly seized from one of his escort vehicles outside his residence.

"The Applicant denies knowledge of the stated items and discovery, categorically stating that the motor vehicle in which they were discovered if at all, does not belong to him or any of his associates or affiliates as reported," he said in court papers.

In a press briefing on Thursday evening, Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli said four teargas canisters, two Motorola gadgets, seven assorted chargers for the pocket phone, and one mobile phone were recovered in a motor vehicle parked outside Wanjigi's gate.

Wanjigi had joined protesters in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD) before police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse them.

What followed was a dramatic motor vehicle chase involving Wanjigi's motorcade and police patrol vehicles from the CBD to Muthaiga via Thika Road.

The vehicle carrying Wanjigi reportedly made its way inside his compound as the chase car was abandoned outside the gate by the time police caught up with the businessman’s convoy.

A heavy police contingent, including the DCI's Special Crimes Unit, camped outside Wanjigi's house, conducting forensic analysis on the abandoned vehicle.

Police later ordered Wanjigi to surrender at the nearest police station, but he was yet to do so by Friday.

His family members, speaking to Citizen TV on Friday morning, termed the incident as a political witch-hunt as they narrated the 12-hour ordeal at the hands of police officers who gained access inside their home on Thursday night.

Wanjigi’s son, Maina Wanjigi, said the police officers conducted two searches in a span of two hours; one at 4:00 am and another at 6:00am.

While narrating the incident, he said that the first team of officers gained access to their home at 7:00 pm and began assaulting the family members including his mother and sister. 

He claimed that the masked officers, equipped with assault rifles, ordered them to lie on the floor and began kicking them on their heads, in an attempt to force them to cooperate. 

According to Maina, the family ceded to the officers’ will and agreed the officers to conduct the search, albeit without a search warrant. The officers retrieved iPhones, iPads, walkie-talkies for house communications and a fuel receipt. 

He noted that the search lasted till 4:00 am when they left and two hours later, another team of officers arrived at the premises and conducted another search. 

“In brief, they came around 7:00 pm and forcefully broke the door. Personally, I was beaten up by five officers who were masked. Once they entered, they assaulted my sister and mother, asked them to lie down on the floor, kicked them in the heads, then from there we had no choice but to cooperate,” Maina noted.

“They did a thorough search till about 4:00 am and as a family we thought it was over and then at about 6 am, masked individuals came and dragged us out of beds, saying they want to search even more. Let’s say the current state we’re now is that the power is cut, wifi is down, we don’t know why they wanted to do two different searches.”

Delving further into the matter, Wanjigi’s lawyer Willis Otieno claimed that the second team of officers who conducted the search at 6:00 am stole jewellery, cash and other valuables in what he termed as an armed robbery and not a police operation. 

The lawyer added that the searches were a political witch-hunt against Wanjigi for his political stand against the current government.