Man arrested at President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Gatundu residence is mentally unstable, brother says

Said Mire Siyad was arrested at President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Gatundu home and arraigned in court on claims that he is a terror suspect.

The brother of a man who was detained by police after he was arrested at President Uhuru Kenyatta's home in Gatundu has denied that he is a terrorist.

He said the suspect, Said Mire Siyad (pictured), was mentally unstable and has been sick since 2004, and that his family has been looking for him since Tuesday when he went missing from their Imara Daima home.

The brother Ahmed Mire said Siyad is a mental patient and frequently visits Mathare Mental Hospital for medicine.

"He had traveled from Garissa to Nairobi and was to go to Mathare for medicine. We were shocked to get a call from police saying our brother had been arrested over terror claims and was headed to court," said Mire.

He added that when he arrived in Eastleigh, Nairobi, he took a taxi to their Imara Daima home where he was to stay for a while as he received medical attention.

Mire said Siyad walked out of the house on Tuesday, saying he wanted to bask outside and then vanished. According to Mire, Siyad does not keep mobile phones.

"All the phones he had, he has given to strangers. On Tuesday, I wrote my number and put it in his pocket and told him to ask anyone to call me in case he got lost out there. He had around Sh300 in his pocket," said Mire.

He said he did not see Siyad until Wednesday morning when police called him saying he was headed for court to face terror related charges.

When he arrived at the court precincts, he was informed Siyad had been arrested at the entrance of the President's rural home in Gatundu.

Siyad is said to have walked to the entrance and sought to talk to the former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta or the President.

"When he told the police guarding the gate he wanted to see Mama Ngina or Uhuru, someone called Kinyanjui came out and talked with him for almost 30 minutes before they called Anti-Terror Police to pick him up. He is sick," said Mire.

Siyad was then driven to Nairobi where he was questioned before he was produced in court on Wednesday.

Siyad told Mire he took a matatu to Thika Town before he connected to Gatundu using another PSV.

"He said he had been to Gatundu in the past. I personally don't know where Gatundu is and I suspect he used the money he had to go there," said Mire.

State Prosecutor Daniel Karori told the court that police are yet to establish Siyad's motive but they believe he was on a surveillance mission for a terrorist attack.

Karori said since Siyad was arrested on April 21 (Tuesday), police have not had adequate time to conduct investigations and require 15 days to complete the probe.

He told the court that investigators require detailed extraction of mobile phone records to ascertain the nature of communication and contact persons.

Thursday, Mire said he accompanied the officers to Mathare Hospital where his brother was tested. He said he wanted to see his brother released.