From Parliament to police cells: Ex-Mwea MP Gitau entangled in high-value lorry theft probe

The dramatic arrest of former Mwea Member of Parliament Peter Njuguna Gitau has reignited debate about elite criminal networks and the blurred line between political power and organised crime, after detectives linked him to a high-value lorry theft syndicate operating across counties.

Gitau, once a two-term legislator and ally of successive ruling parties, is among five suspects arrested in connection with the theft of two Isuzu lorries stolen in Gatanga, Murang’a County, in August 2025.

The other suspects are Mark Kinyua, Erick Chege, David Kigo and Joseph Ndung’u Waweru.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the lorries, an Isuzu FVZ (KDQ 845T) and an Isuzu FRR (KDL 078W) were stolen in what investigators describe as a “brazen, well-coordinated operation,” suggesting the involvement of an organised criminal ring rather than opportunistic thieves.

Detectives from the DCI’s elite Operation Support Unit (OSU) say intelligence-led investigations led them from Murang’a to Mombasa County, where the stolen vehicles were eventually recovered in the Makupa area, a known transit hub for commercial cargo and vehicles.

In a statement issued late last night, DCI Director Mohamed Amin revealed that the lorries had been fitted with counterfeit registration plates, a tactic commonly used by sophisticated vehicle theft syndicates to evade tracking and law enforcement detection.

The Isuzu FVZ was reportedly disguised with fake plates KDV 449C, while the Isuzu FRR carried counterfeit registration KCA 505D.

“The level of planning and execution points to experienced operatives familiar with vehicle theft, falsification of records and inter-county movement,” a senior investigator familiar with the case told this publication, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing investigations.

The recovered vehicles are currently held at DCI Gatanga, pending forensic examination and formal handover to their owners.

However, Gitau’s arrest is not without controversy. It comes just weeks after a Murang’a court released him and his co-suspects in a similar matter, citing violations of constitutional safeguards.

On January 21, Senior Resident Magistrate Eric Analo dismissed a police application seeking to detain the suspects for an additional 21 days, ruling that continued detention without formal charges would amount to a breach of their constitutional rights. Gitau was released on a Sh500,000 cash bail or an alternative bond of Sh1 million, with similar terms extended to the other suspects.

The prosecution had argued that investigators needed more time to conclude inquiries into a separate vehicle theft reported on November 4, 2025.

But the court noted that none of the suspects had been formally charged, despite having been in custody.

Gitau’s legal team, led by advocate Robert Ndumbi, accused police of procedural misconduct, arguing that the former MP was arrested on January 14 but arraigned several days later well beyond the constitutionally mandated 24-hour window.

“They first transported him to DCI headquarters in Nairobi before moving him to Murang’a. That alone raises serious constitutional questions,” Ndumbi said.

Another defence lawyer, John Njogu, questioned why investigators continued to seek extended detention without presenting concrete evidence or preferring charges.

Gitau’s lawyers have since vowed to move to the High Court, accusing police officers of unlawfully breaking into his home, conducting the arrest in an inhumane manner and detaining him illegally.

Elected Mwea MP in 2007 on a PNU ticket and re-elected in 2013 under TNA, Gitau’s fall from political prominence to criminal suspect underscores a troubling pattern investigators say they are increasingly encountering: the alleged involvement of politically connected individuals in organised economic crimes.