Details of politician arrested outside Citizen TV studios

Piece by: CYRUS OMBATI
Politics
for Nairobi Woman representative seat Monicah Gitau
Usawa Kwa Wote party candidate for Nairobi Woman representative seat Monicah Gitau
Image: MPASHO

When police ambushed and detained a politician for donning police clothes while in the studio, there was a commotion outside the Citizen TV studios in Nairobi.

Before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Monicah Gitau, a candidate for the Nairobi Woman representative seat for the Usawa Kwa Wote party, discovered armed police officers waiting for her outside the compound.

Witnesses claimed that when she appeared on television to discuss her personal and political difficulties, authorities claimed she was impersonating a police officer and was illegally donning a junior police officer's uniform.

When the police questioned who she was, Gitau responded that she was a contender for the position and had retired from the Administration Police Service in 2011. She said that she paid for the uniform herself.

Police claimed Gitau was unable to satisfactorily explain why she was wearing a uniform despite having retired more than ten years prior.

She was then informed that she was being arrested and then taken to the Kilimani police cells to be interrogated.

It is illegal, according to Kilimani police chief Muturi Mbogo, for a former officer to wear a police uniform.

“She said she retired long ago but can’t explain why she is in official uniform,” he said.

He stated that she would face charges in court for things like impersonating and having the outfit.

People who spotted her in-studio wearing the outfit informed the police about the event, according to the police.

A Citizen TV station manager claimed they were unaware that the woman had retired and wasn't permitted to be in the studio wearing a police uniform without permission.

After the APS and Kenyan police merged in 2018, the police department adopted the Persian blue uniform.

Since over 24,000 APS officers were transferred to KPS as a result of the modifications, a new uniform was chosen.

It appears that this has made it possible for other people to build these outfits for their own usage. The action was a part of the service's continuing reforms.

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