Bomb scare at Ruto's office

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 20 – Anti-terror police on Monday night mounted a massive search at the offices of Higher Education Minister William Ruto following threats there was a bomb planted there.

Police sources told Capital News that the threat was received shortly after 7pm prompting the deployment of bomb experts to the office at Jogoo House in the center of Nairobi.

The Minister who was in Mombasa at the time is understood to have been informed of the development.

Capital News was still trying to reach Mr Ruto for comment early on Tuesday.

Police sources said a team from the Bomb Disposal Unit based at the CID headquarters was deployed to Mr Ruto’s office where they carried out a search for slightly more than an hour.

“There was nothing found there, the place was declared safe and the exercise was called off,” the police source said.

Security forces in the country have been on a high alert since last week when two bombs exploded at restaurants in Kampala, Uganda killing 76 people and injuring more than 100 others.

Two days ago, police arrested a pastor and two quarry workers over the weekend after they were found with materials capable of making a bomb.

Pastor John Kamau Mbugua and Samuel Chege Gitau were jointly charged on Monday with possessing two kilograms of prilled ammonium nitrate, electric fuses and detonators which they allegedly intended to use to harm the public.

The two, however, denied the charges before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Grace Nzioka who granted each of them a bond of Sh500,000 with a surety of the same amount. Both of them spent the night in custody after they failed to raise the bond.

Their case will be mentioned on August 24.

The two told the court they intended to use the materials to blast stones at a quarry. The charge sheet stated that the two were arrested on Saturday afternoon within Karura forest on Kiambu road

Another quarry worker, John Chege was also charged in the same court for having been allegedly in possession of seven kilograms of ammonium nitrate, 10 aluminum detonators and fuses which he allegedly intended to use to harm the public and cause prejudice to public order.

Kenya’s Military Spokesman Bogita Ongeri told Capital News last week that the country’s borders with Somalia were “well secured with adequate security forces.”

On June 13, six people were killed and more than 100 others injured when two grenades were hurled at a crowd attending a church crusade at Uhuru Park.

Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said investigations were still underway. He has offered Sh500,000 to anyone who offers information which will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators