Five armed men reportedly attacked the parents of former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich in Kaptich village, Uasin Gishu county where they ransacked the house for over 30 minutes before robbing the couple of cash and mobile phones.
The robbers then escaped after members of the public raised an alarm on hearing commotion at the home. The robbers have since been apprehended.
Detectives said that one of the arrested suspects was being sought in connection to another robbery that took place at the residence of former CS Rotich at Elgon View 2 years ago.
Moses Kiplagat, the Kaptagat location chief, reported to the police that at around 7 pm, five men raided the residence of Rotich Matui, 82, and his wife Tereki Rotich. They had a vehicle while two of them were riding on a motorcycle, according to the police.
The couple’s son, Moses Rotich,44, said he was outside the compound when the robbers, who were wearing face masks and surgical gloves, stormed through the gate.
“They took all mobile phones from us, switched them off and ordered all the four bedrooms to be opened,” he said.
As three of them ransacked the house, two robbers kept guard while armed with a pistol. They then left after 30 minutes having robbed Rotich’s mother of Sh1,500.
They then drove away in a silver Mercedes Benz, whose registration number was not captured, and a blue motorcycle.
Yesterday morning, a team of detectives from the Uasin Gishu Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), acting on a tip-off, managed to intercept the vehicle, Mercedes Benz registration number KCR 221L, along the Old Nairobi road in Eldoret.
The detectives arrested all the four occupants who have been identified as Cosmus Kemei 28, Benson Okila 37, Joseph Kipkurui Kosgei 27, and Phanuel Maindu Tiriki 36.
The officers also recovered an Austrian-made Glock Ges pistol loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, five mobile phones, four black face masks, two pairs of gloves, four jackets, two caps, a hut, balaclava, two hammers, a rope, and a machete.
The recovered pistol belongs to Okila but by yesterday detectives were yet to establish whether he illegally bought it or had hired it from some robbers.
“He is not a licenced firearm holder and is illegally in possession of the firearm. It will be subjected to ballistic examination to establish if it had been used in committing other robberies within the area and its environs,” a senior detective told K24 Digital.
Police also said they had established that the vehicle belonged to Tiriki who is also suspected to be involved in fraud and fake currencies.
