Police raid Ngirita family home for second time

Ann Ngirita when she appeared at the Milimani Law Courts last week. [Beverlyne Musili, Standard]

Members of the Ngirita family in Naivasha are crying foul after armed detectives raided their home on Sunday evening, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

This came as the family, whose five relatives are being held in remand over the Sh9 billion National Youth Service scandal, claimed their lives were in danger.

In the latest incident, the detectives, who numbered more than ten, arrived in the home located at Lakeview at around 7pm and broke into several septic tanks and sewer lines.

Shocked relatives

The officers, who did not explain their mission to the shocked relatives and workers, later left after learning that their presence had been reported to the local police station.

A relative, who declined to be named, said the officers arrived in three vehicles and broke the gate to their mother’s house before gaining access into the compound.

The officers, who appeared to be searching for something in particular, went from one manhole to the other before unsuccessfully trying to gain entrance into the house.

“There was no search warrant. We came to learn from neighbours that the officers were already in the compound and we suspect something sinister in the whole exercise,” said the relative.

According to him, the group later left in a huff after the relatives started making frantic calls to their lawyer, adding that they were now living in fear of being harassment.

A source at Naivasha Police Station said they were aware of the raid, but was quick to add that they were not informed about anything else. “The officers did not involve us in their operation and we are yet to know what they were looking for that late in the night,” said our source.

The Ngiritas, who include mother Lucy Wambui, son Jeremiah Gichini, daughters Ann Wambere and Phyllis Njeri, and daughter-in-law Cate Mwai have been in custody since last week.

The raid came as a group of Naivasha leaders and traders accused the media of unfairly targeting the family for the past one week.

Real suspects

They claimed that since the scandal broke out, the family had been in the news every day yet the real suspects behind the scandal, and who authorised the NYS deals, were being protected.

One of the leaders, James Chege, said the family was ‘innocent until proven otherwise’. “One media house in particular has already condemned the Ngiritas as thieves, which is unfair, and covered up the real masterminds behind this scam. But the truth shall prevail,” he said.