Armenians: President suspends CID director

CID director Joseph Kamau was suspended last night as President Kibaki ordered an inquiry into Friday's deportation of the controversial Artur brothers.

The President also ordered the suspension of  six  senior government officials  and  five police officers. 

Among those suspended was Kenya Airports Authority deputy managing director Naomi Cidi and Winnie Wangui,  the daughter of Narc activist and businesswoman Mary Wambui. 

President Kibaki, who announced the suspensions, said he was setting up a commission of inquiry into Thursday's security breach at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where Mr Artur Margaryan and Mr Artur Sargsyan drew pistols in an attempt to free a female guest who had just flown into  Kenya and who had refused requests by customs officers to open her luggage for inspection.

The President announced the suspensions after receiving preliminary reports into investigations on the deportations.

He did not immediately name members of the commission or set a deadline. However, he said the commission's  terms of reference were to  investigate the circumstances and events leading to the deportation of the two Armenians and their accomplices.

The deportation of the brothers, on Friday, led to calls for the resignations and arrests of some of the officials involved, amid criticism that the two had been allowed to escape justice by being whisked out of the country.

The President also ordered the suspension of  six  senior government officials  and  five police officers who he ordered should be suspended while investigations are carried out.

Ms  Wangui is an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Water. 
Others on the suspension list were Kenya Airports Authority security warden Edward Kiptoo Mutai, a protocol officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Paul Latoya, an immigration officer, Mr James Gitonga. 

The police officers were Senior Superintendent of Police Stephen Kipruto Tumbo, the Officer in Charge of JKIA police station, Chief Inspector Josephat Gikonyo; Inspector Daniel Maithya, Sergeant Evelyn Owon and Corporal James Kimihu. They are all attached the JKIA police station.

Mr Kamau's suspension came amidst reports of a strained relations between him and his boss, Police Commissioner Hussein Ali.

The reports followed the raids on the Standard Group which were said to have been planned and carried out without Maj Gen Ali's knowledge.

Following the raid, Maj Gen Ali shuffled a number of officers,  sending them to outlying posts.

A statement from the Presidential Press Services said last night: "After considering the report of the preliminary investigations into the events leading to the deportation of the two Armenians and their accomplices, the President is setting up a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances leading to the deportation of the two Armenian brothers."

Mr  Kamau was appointed on April 5, 2004 as director of the Criminal Investigations Department. He was appointed at the same time President Kibaki named then  brigadier Mohammed Hussein Ali to head the police force. He has since risen to the rank of a major general.

The two top officers were appointed to check the rise in crime.
However, Mr Kamau ran into problems after the Standard Group raid in March after he was linked to have had knowledge.

He later attended a press conference addressed by Internal Security Minister John Michuki when the Kangema MP defended the decision to raid the Standard, arguing that it was a security issue.

Although Mr Michuki denied any involvement of foreigners, Opposition leaders led by Lang'ata MP Raila Odinga claimed that Mr Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargasyan led the raid.

The elevation of Mr Kamau as chief detective has been stalked by controversies. But the long-standing differences between he Maj-Gen Hussein Ali  was brought into the open by the recent raid.

It emerged that Maj-Gen Ali was kept in the dark about the raid which was mastermined and  executed by his own officers.

Attempts by Maj Gen Ali to have Mr Kamau sacked failed he defied the orders and vowed to stay put. 

The raid happened as the police commissioner was in Rwanda for a meeting. 

Mr Kamau - who was the chief investigator in the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry - replaced Mr Daniel Ndung'u as CID chief.

Until his appointment as the top investigator, Mr Kamau was deputy director operations and logistics.

He holds a masters degree in police studies from the University of Exeter's Centre for Police Studies and Criminal Justice, UK.

Mr Kamau held positions of deputy divisional criminal investigation officer, investigator at Exchange Control Investigations branch at Central Bank of Kenya and director of the Banking Fraud Investigations department at CBK.

The suspensions came as Leader of Official Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta announced he was planning to raise the issue of the Armenians  in Parliament.  He described it as a matter of national security.

Mr Kenyatta spoke out as Kabete MP Paul Muite announced that his Parliamentary Legal Affairs committee was to summon 11 people to give evidence which he hoped would shed light on the two Armenians.

Meanwhile, police last night gave a chronology of events at JKIA which led to the deportations. The incident which led to the deportations started at 6.30 pm.

The statement said: "The attention of police officers on duty at JKIA was drawn to a commotion between customs officer Charles Nambale and the two Artur brothers, Margaryan and Sargsyan, accompanied by two men and a woman.

"The cause of the argument was their reluctance to produce invoices for the purpose of duty assessment for goods found in one of the four pieces of luggage their guests had disembarked with from Dubai aboard an Emirates flight.

"The commotion extended outside the baggage hall, drawing the attention of members of the public.

"At this point one of the Artur brothers drew a pistol while outside the terminal building to scare the crowd and quickly sped away from the airport towards town with their luggage.

"Mr Michuki ordered the arrest following the serious breach of  security that occurred at JKIA.

"On the same night, police raided the Artur residence in Runda estate and arrested the following people. Artur Margaryan, Artur Sargsyan, Arman Damitri, Alexander Tashchi, Lucas Makena, Nyakasha Ntwenya and Shefana Alarakyia.

Six of these were deported except Alarakyia who is Kenyan," the police statement said.