Baringo County Assembly Speaker Kassait Kamket arrested at JKIA
Baringo County Assembly Speaker William Kamket addressing journalists in Kabarnet on August 20, 2014. He has vowed to make his way into the chambers despite a move by the majority leader and other ward representatives to lock him out of office. FILE PHOTO | CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Kamket posted his arrest on his Facebook page.
- He was to travel to Istanbul, Turkey. The County Speaker was Wednesday taken to Kabarnet by a police vehicle, escorted by multiple officers for grilling.
- He said he supported police investigations into clashes in the area.
Detectives early Wednesday morning arrested Baringo County Speaker Kassait Kamket at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he waited to board a plane.
He was arrested at 1am by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in connection with recent killings in Baringo. He was to travel to Istanbul, Turkey.
Mr Kamket posted his arrest on his Facebook page.
“This is to let all friends, comrades, compatriots and gallant sons and daughters of Tiaty and Baringo County that the forces of evil have conspired to successfully have me arrested tonight at Jomo Kenyatta Airport. I am now detained here,” he stated in a Facebook post at 2 am.
The Speaker was on Wednesday taken to Kabarnet by a police vehicle, escorted by multiple officers for questioning.
When the Nation called him in the afternoon, he said that he had not been briefed on the reason he was arrested.
“I suspect, however, that it is in connection with the current violence in Baringo, because my friends told me that Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo (had) labelled me and two other members of county assembly as suspects at a recent function in Baringo,” he said.
He was referring to a statement made by Mr Kimaiyo on October 26 at a function in the Chemolingot area, which is the Tiaty constituency headquarters.
“I spent the better part of the night at the police station at the airport. I was supposed to be in Turkey for a whole week for a conference,” Mr Kamket said.
He said he supported police investigations into clashes in the area and urged them to also look into the constant clashes on the Baringo-Turkana boundary and the persistent cattle raids.
