Police hunt for Sakaja as senator skips recording statement

The police were last evening planning a manhunt for Senator Johnson Sakaja after the troubled lawmaker failed to show up to record a statement to facilitate his arraignment for flouting curfew orders.

The Nairobi senator was expected to present himself at the at Kilimani station to record the statement following the Friday night fracas at Ladies Lounge, a bar in Kilimani, but had not turned up by 4pm last evening.

Nairobi police boss Philip Ndolo said the lawmaker, who lives metres from the station, had promised to present himself.

“He has not recorded the statement. I am sure he will be recording anytime. We don’t know his whereabouts. He said he would present himself to the police. We hope he will keep his word,” Ndolo told the Star.

Ndolo said the police will launch a manhunt for the youthful lawmaker whose conduct surprised many people, should he fail to show-up by close of business on Sunday.

The police had planned to arraign him on Monday for flouting the Covid-19 rules imposed by the President to contain the spread of the contagion.

But Ndolo said this will now depend on the time he records the crucial statement needed for his arraignment.

Sakaja and three others were arrested on Friday night after they were found drinking alcohol at Ladies Lounge on Dennis Pritt Road at 1am. They were released at about 4am on free police bond.

This was far past the curfew hours – 9pm to 4am – imposed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to check the spread of the contagion.

However, sources disclosed that the officers were slow on apprehending the former TNA chairman because of his political connections and closeness with President Uhuru.

This even as other sources revealed the senator was hiding in the home of a powerful government official in Karen to avoid spending the cold nights in police cells.

His phone was switched off throughout Sunday.

Sakaja chairs the Senate ad hoc committee on Covid-19. The powerful panel oversights the government’s containment measures, including the enforcement of curfew he allegedly flouted, to combat the virus. 

During the Friday night fracas, Sakaja, according to a police report, threatened to instigate the transfer of all the police officers who were involved his arrest.

The report states that an officer from Kilimani area received information that Ladies Lounge was still operating at around 1.10am.

Upon visiting the bar, the officer found Sakaja among a group of 10 others seated outside drinking.

The officer asked the senator to leave but he declined prompting them to call the regional boss who tried in vain to convince them to leave.

Later, Kilimani Deputy OCPD Abdi Hassan joined them.

“It is then that Sakaja became violent. He incited the others not to go away and was arrested. The other three refused to give out their names for disobeying curfew orders,” the statement reads.

During Sakaja’s arrest, the others managed to escape from the scene. While in custody, Sakaja refused to be released on free bond and threatened to transfer all the officers involved in his arrest within 24 hours.

In the video clips that circulated on social media on Saturday, Sakaja is seen behind bars demanding back his phone from the officers.

Speaking to the Star after the police sent out the statement, the senator laughed off the reports and challenged the police to produce an OB number.

“I am at home. That is politics. I am always unruly. Generally, I am very unruly. But I am at home. Unless they want to arrest me now, they can come,” he told the Star.