City lawyer Wahome Thuku has called on Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to intervene after three officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) allegedly took KSh300,000 from a businessman in Malindi.
In a statement addressed to Murkomen, Thuku claimed the officers had travelled from the DCI headquarters in Nairobi to Malindi to investigate a case when they allegedly seized the money and several business documents from the local hardware dealer.
Thuku said he had spoken to the businessman, whom he described as deeply traumatised by the incident.
“The man in hardware business is shaken beyond words. I talked to him this afternoon, he is traumatized,” Thuku said.
According to the lawyer, the officers allegedly told the businessman that they were recovering money that had been stolen from an Irish national. He further claimed that the businessman was accused of being an accomplice in the alleged theft.
Thuku questioned the manner in which the KSh300,000 was taken, saying the officers did not provide an inventory or documentation showing that the money had been formally seized by the government.
He also raised questions about the legal basis for the alleged recovery, arguing that property cannot simply be taken from an individual without proper legal authority.
“No one in Kenya can recover anything from anyone without a court order,” Thuku stated.
The lawyer directly appealed to Murkomen to investigate the matter, saying he was raising the issue because he believed the Interior CS could address complaints involving law enforcement agencies.
Thuku also criticised the leadership of the DCI, claiming that ordinary members of the public faced difficulties getting direct responses from the agency's top leadership.
He warned that failure to address the matter would prompt him to escalate the complaint to President William Ruto.