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Police probing identity of DP Ruto home intruder

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 30-Police have launched an investigation to establish the identity of the intruder who staged an attack at the residence of Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet on Sunday told journalists that they had not established his real identity, even though multiple police sources said he had tried to access the home previously while claiming that he was a hawker.

“The matter is under active investigation to establish the identity of the intruder and the motive as well as circumstances that led to the intrusion,” Boinnet told a news conference, after announcing that the intruder had been killed after a night-long siege in which he also killed a General Service Unit officer he was holding hostage.

According to the IG, the intruder managed to access the home after snatching a firearm from a GSU officer at the main gate, but he was not able to proceed past the second gate that leads to the DP’s house.

“There are two gates at the DP’s residence, and it is only the outer gate that was affected,” the IG said, “The intruder snatched a gun from the officer at the gate and stabbed him and that is how he got in. He then accessed an armoury box and those are the guns and ammunitions he was using in the shooting.”

Earlier on Sunday, the Rift Valley Regional Coordinator had told journalists in Sugoi that the situation was complicated because the intruder was firing using more than one firearm thus causing confusion because the officers thought there was more than one attacker.

In his media briefing, the IG too emphasized that there was only one attacker who had been killed.
The attacker took the GSU officer hostage when he entered a room he was sleeping, having been on duty the previous night.

“This (Sunday) morning when our officers managed to neutralize him, they were able to access the place and they established that he had already killed one of our officers whom he had been holding hostage,” he said.

He said they are still investigating to establish what really happened. “We want to know the circumstances that led to this intruder seizing that firearm.”

Ruto has sent condolences to the families of the deceased officer, and praised the officers involved in the security operation
“I sent condolences to the family of the gallant soldier Joseph Makembo, who died in line of duty and quick recovery to Allan Rotich. Your bravery, courage and care of duty will be honoured. Those whose mission is to create fear, despondency and division will be defeat,” he said, and warned that “Those who seek to frustrate our unity, undermine our progress or work towards destroying our nationhood will not succeed. We believe in a powerful God.”

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The deputy president had left the house shortly before the attack to attend rallies alongside President Uhuru Kenyatta, his running mate who faces a re-election contest on August 8 against longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Saturday’s attack occurred despite the round-the-clock presence of GSU guards at the property, near the town of Eldoret, some 300 kilometres (200 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi.

Ruto’s home sits in Kenya’s western Rift Valley area, the flash point for an outbreak of election violence after the disputed 2007 polls that killed 1,100 people and tarnished Kenya’s image as a regional beacon of safety and stability.

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