Jimi Wanjigi's Mother Speaks After Son's Home Was Raided by Police

The mother of businessman and politician Jimi Wanjigi has stated that it is unfortunate that police officers raided her son's home.

Speaking to the press on Friday, August 9, Wanjigi's mother maintained that she knew her son very well and that he had never been a criminal.

"It is very unfortunate that this had to happen after Jimi's father was buried about a month ago. I'm the mother of Jimi; I've known him very well since childhood and he has never been a criminal. He is a loving son, father and husband. I wish that after what happened to him, everyone would open their eyes and see that he is innocent," she remarked. 

According to Wanjigi's lawyer, Willis Otieno, his clients were woken up at 6:00 a.m. on Friday by marauding men who forced their way into the rooms.

Otieno claimed that the men were covered in balaclavas and they pointed guns at his clients after forcing them out of their rooms.

"At 6 a.m. in the morning, my clients were woken up by marauding men jumping in their rooms wearing balaclavas and carrying assault rifles. They forced them out of their rooms and pointed guns at them, tore things within the house and purported that they were conducting a search," Otieno claimed.

The lawyer wondered why they had to conduct a fresh search after a similar search was done at the residence on Thursday night.

"How can the same police that we had done a whole night search with appear at 6:00 a.m. in the morning to purport to conduct a fresh search?" he posed.

He further alleged that they stole valuables from the house as they were conducting the search in darkness after disconnecting electricity.

"In the process, they've also stolen items and valuables belonging to this family because they were doing this in the cover of darkness. They made sure that when they were doing this, they disconnected the electricity supply to the house. They carried valuables, watches, jewellerly and money," the lawyer claimed.

Otieno went ahead to allege that the morning operation was not a police operation but an armed robbery.

When asked about the whereabouts of his client, he noted that Wanjigi was in a safe place and that he would present himself if summoned.

On Thursday, acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli asked Wanjigi to surrender to the police.

Masengeli said that police had intercepted a vehicle outside the businessman's residence and recovered several items from the vehicle, including 4 teargas canisters and police communication devices.