Nairobi County Speaker Benson Mutura was arrested by Department of Criminal investigations (DCI) officers a few weeks after he led more than 20 Nairobi County MCAs in joining the United Democratic Alliance party led by Deputy President William Ruto.
Mutura was arrested at his offices located in City Hall on Wednesday, April 20 by plainclothes policemen from DCI.
Summons seen by Kivumbi.co.ke show that Mutura was arrested on allegations of a theft incident involving a county employee at City Hall.
“I am conducting an investigation into an alleged …theft by servant. I have reasons to believe that you, Benson Mutura is connected to the offense or have information that may assist in the investigations,” the summons read.
According to sources, the Nairobi speaker was taken to DCI headquarters along Kiambu road for further interrogation.
In the morning, police officers from DCI failed to arrest the speaker after he questioned their motive.
Addressing the media today morning, at City Hall, Mutura termed the arrest as part of the intimidation following his move to support DP Ruto in the coming presidential elections.
“This morning while I was in the office, some officer came to arrest me without a summon and reason. What they did was in total contravention of the Nairobi County standing orders,” Mutura said.
Mutura who is not vying for any political seat said no amount of intimidation will make him shift his political alignment.
Mutura led a section of Nairobi County MCAs in defecting to DP Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party early this month, severing links with the Jubilee party.
Mutura, who was sworn in as Speaker in August 2020, took over from Beatrice Elachi following intervention by President Uhuru Kenyatta after a protracted leadership row in the assembly.
In 2021, Mutura briefly acted as the Nairobi governor after a power vacuum that arose following the impeachment of Mike Sonko.
