Ruto guards removed from elite squad and transferred over Sudi arrest saga

Three police guards attached to the Deputy President William Ruto have been transferred and removed from the elite Presidential Escort Unit over their role in the escape of Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi from his house.

This happened on September 11 when police raided Sudi’s home in Eldoret with an intention of arresting him.

The officers - a chief inspector and two constables- were attached to the elite Presidential Escort Unit which guards the president, his deputy and their families.

Officials aware of the developments said the three had first been given show cause letters, before a decision to transfer them was made. One of them was moved to Homabay, another to Mandera and a third one to Bondo.

The officers have since been moved from the Presidential Escort Unit to the general duty as part of their punishment. Their replacements to the DP have since been made, police authorities said.

The three were last week summoned to police headquarters where they faced a panel of their colleagues for a grilling session and later given a day to respond to their accusations.

They returned their response before they were given the show-cause letters.

They were asked to explain why and how they were in Sudi’s compound on September 11 when a team of officers arrived there to arrest him.

Preliminary reports indicate that the officers had escorted the DP to his residence, where they handed him over to the GSU officers guarding his Sugoi residence.

They then left to join Sudi at his house kilometers away. It was as they were inside the compound that police arrived.

The presidential escort officers did not declare who they were at the time. This was even after shots were fired at the entrance of the compound as the team forced their way in.

After the officers had gotten into the compound, it emerged one of the elite members was armed with a Jericho pistol loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition, while his colleague was armed with a Ceska pistol and 30 rounds of ammunition, according to Police headquarters.

The senior officer left his Gilboa rifle with 30 bullets in his car. It was recovered from the car and later linked to him. The other two juniors were arrested and released a day later before they joined the senior officer in Sugoi and later drove to Nairobi as the DP concluded his tour.

The Chief Inspector is said to have managed to escape with Sudi from the home, leaving behind his colleagues and juniors who were later arrested.

He switched off his mobile phone but on September 12, he was spotted at the DP’s compound in Sugoi before they left.

The MP was however traced to Nairobi and later to a guest house in Kitale before he surrendered to police in Langas, Eldoret on September 13.

He is facing charges of hate speech among others.