Orengo’s Bodyguard, Staffers Arrested Ahead of Ruto’s Siaya Visit

Police have arrested the personal bodyguard of Siaya Governor James Orengo and at least eight other members of his staff, detaining them in police stations across Nairobi and Siaya County on the eve of President William Ruto’s visit to the lakeside county.

Governor Orengo said his bodyguard was picked up in Nairobi at around 7.30pm on Saturday, March 7, and taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters.

Eight additional members of his staff, among them his communications officer, were arrested the same evening and held at various stations in Siaya County.

His personal assistant, the governor added, remains at large and is actively being sought by police, coming days after the same aide was summoned to record a statement.

Speaking to the Daily Nation by telephone, Mr Orengo said the arrests were directly connected to President Ruto’s scheduled visit to Siaya on Sunday. President Ruto was expected to attend the homecoming ceremony of Dr Ouma Oluga, the Medical Services Principal Secretary, at Uyoma in Rarieda Constituency.

“I am not sure what the government is afraid of. The President has the right to come to Siaya, but this does not give him a licence to order arbitrary arrests. The police are under strict instructions not to release them until Sunday evening, after the President’s event,” Mr Orengo said.

The governor described the conduct as an attempt to intimidate and harass his team, but vowed it would not derail what he called “our cause.” He demanded the immediate release of all those in custody, terming the arrests an egregious affront to human and constitutional rights.

“This egregious conduct on the part of the police has no place in a constitutional democracy. I demand their release. This is meant to intimidate and harass us, but it will not deter us from continuing with our cause,” he said.

The arrests also came hours before a planned Linda Mwananchi rally at Jacaranda Grounds in Nairobi, where the Orengo-led team had intended to present a parallel report on the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Ruto and the late Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga. The Linda Mwananchi team had separately announced plans to travel to Kaiti Constituency in Makueni County for a fundraiser and church service on Sunday.

Mr Orengo, a first-term governor and one of the most prominent rebel voices within ODM, has been a persistent critic of the broad-based government arrangement entered into by his party and the President’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

He has also taken aim at the elevation of Oburu Odinga as the party’s acting leader, arguing that the appointment was irregular and violated the party’s own constitutional procedures.

Babu Owino also claims he is being targeted

Babu Owino.

The arrests came as Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino also claimed on Saturday that police were moving to detain him. In a Facebook post at 6pm, Mr Owino alleged that DCI officers from Kakamega County had been dispatched for the operation, and named Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo as the complainant.

“Plans to arrest me on course. I highly welcome this nonsense. Why use DCI from Kakamega County? Raymond Omollo is the complainant,” Mr Owino wrote.

Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai, a government ally, warned on social media that the governor risked personal arrest if he continued to antagonise the state, saying police had been right to act against those he accused of orchestrating disruptions ahead of the presidential visit. He claimed that Orengo’s aides had been paying residents in Uyoma to jeer and insult the President during the Siaya visit.

The police had not issued a statement on the arrests by the time of going to press. President Ruto arrived in Siaya on Sunday morning for the Dr Oluga homecoming event at Uyoma, one of the opposition’s traditional strongholds.