Police on the spot as Rurii ‘Men in Black’ released without charge

The heavily built, ‘Men in Black’ who stirred up chaos at the Rurii Ward by-election were released only a few minutes after arrest by anti-riot police, the Nation has established.

The heavily built, mean looking men who wore black jackets and hoods engaged locals in stone throwing and fist fights, before law enforcers shepherded them to a police lorry and whisked them away.

Their presence at the Rurii Polytechnic vote tallying centre, and their composed demeanour even as the locals menacingly charged at them while accusing them of being used to execute an alleged vote-rigging scheme, raised queries as to why the police appeared to treat them with kids gloves.    

“Top leadership in the county was not necessarily in the dark regarding the presence and role of the men. We arrested them to rescue them from the residents who had overpowered them, it would have turned messier,” said a police officer was among those deployed at Rurii polytechnic to man the polls, and who sought anonymity for fear of retribution.

At the Ol Kalou Police Station, there is no record of the men in the Occurrence Book, and no evidence either that they even entered the cells.

The Nyandarua Central Sub-County Police Commander, Dahil Abdilahi, declined to respond to our queries on the matter.

The men who numbered about 50 arrived at the Rurii Township polling station, which had the highest number of registered voters, before blending with police officers.

Others took strategic positions, as if ready to swing into action when the need arose.

Trouble started when a number of residents claimed that vehicles carrying ballot boxes had been spotted entering the polling station.

The residents demanded that no vehicle was to be allowed into the polling station, since voting hours had already ended.

The angry residents also questioned the presence of the men, who were swinging their bulging biceps like street fighters ready for combat.

A white land cruiser that was suspected to have been loaded with ballot papers, which the locals claimed were intended for executing the vote rigging plan, arrived and then all hell broke loose.

The locals started protesting, and the men in black started attacking them.

The residents pelted them with stones, disrupting the voting process for almost an hour.

This happened in the watchful eyes of security officers. Journalists and locals watched in disbelief as the ‘Men in Black’ took over the work of the police.

The ‘Men in Black,’ however, took to their heels after they were overpowered by residents of Rurii town in a stone throwing duel outside the polling station.

Anti-riot police officers stepped in to calm the situation, and rescue them from angry residents who were baying for their blood. They were whisked away in a police lorry. 

It has become fashionable for politicians in the region to hire “Men in Black” to intimidate opponents, instead of relying on police officers.

On February 23, this year, chaos emerged at the Nyandarua County Assembly after a group of ‘men in black’ wearing black suits stormed the chambers and tried to steal the Speaker's Mace.

The raid had occurred barely two hours after MCAs unanimously passed the BBI Constitution Amendment Bill 2020.

The heavily-built men stormed the county assembly premises and tried to take away the mace, leading to a fistfight between two factions allied to impeached Speaker Ndegwa Wahome, and Governor Francis Kimemia.

A bouncer in a famous club in Nyahururu town, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in many instances the hired goons ensure they look distinct by wearing similar clothes and black suits to hoodwink people that they are security personnel.

Their mean faces are some of their tools of trade. They rarely smile, which to them is considered a sign of weakness.

Swagger, sadism, combativeness and readiness to harm are their other characteristics.

When “duty” calls, these men transform into heartless human beings. 

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