12 released after failed attempt to enter State House for lunch with Ruto

Twelve youths, who were arrested yesterday afternoon as they attempted to enter Nairobi State House “to have lunch” with President William Ruto, have been released.

The 12 were in a group of about 300 people mostly riding on boda bodas who trailed Ruto from Eastleigh in Kamukunji where he kicked off his development tour of Nairobi that was initially scheduled to last five days.

The others escaped after elite Recce Squad officers were dispatched to address the menace they had caused outside Gate A.

They had defied orders to leave and started robbing and harassing motorists

On arrival, the heavily-armed elite security team acted swiftly, preventing any unauthorised access to the highly protected premises.

The identities of those who were arrested were not disclosed.

The Nairobi State House is among the most important buildings in the country protected under the Protected Areas Act.

The Act protects the all State Houses and Lodges across the country.

There are strict measures to prevent unauthorized entry into these areas and ensure public safety and order.

The Act also authorises security officers to search people, vehicles, and containers entering or leaving protected areas.

According to the Act, anyone found in a protected area without authorisation or failing to follow directives while lawfully present may be removed by a police officer or an authorised individual, in addition to facing legal action.

Besides, any person in a protected area who fails to stop after being challenged twice may be arrested.

Any person who fails to comply with any direction given by the Protected Areas Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding five thousand shillings, or to both such imprisonment and fine.

Previously, however, security at both the Nairobi and Mombasa State Houses has been breached but without posing any threat to the president, his family or other occupants.

In December 2002, a man sneaked into State House and spent the night just metres away from then President Moi’s office.

He was found the next morning, a few minutes before Moi reported to work. An investigation was promptly launched to find out how Onyango Mono eluded tight security to enter the protected area unnoticed.

In 2015, a 15 year-old boy scaled the parameter wall around State House Nairobi to seek assistance from then President Uhuru Kenyatta to record his music.

Mathew Maina Kinuthia was later released unconditionally by a Nairobi court after apologising to President Kenyatta for using unlawful means in an effort to reach him.

“I sincerely apologise to the President for using unlawful means to seek him,” Maina told journalists outside Milimani Law Courts Nairobi.

In 2019, 25-year-old David Bera, then a Mechanical Engineering student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), was shot and injured after he attempted to enter State House. It later emerged he was mentally disturbed.

Kibet said he had been sent by God to “deliver judgement” to President Uhuru but later apologised to him over the incident.

In 2020, Luqman Ali Mahmmoud was arrested and taken to court after he drove past Gate D at the State House to seek an audience with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He admitted to the charge, saying he wanted to speak to Uhuru on “how to worship Allah.”

Maina, who said that he wanted to become a judge, had been charged with entering a protected zone illegally.

He entered the compound by driving his Volkswagen Polo at breakneck speed forcing presidential guards to puncture its tyres.