There was drama at the Nairobi home of former interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi when a group of detectives arrived there ready for a search on Wednesday night.
The officers claimed they were from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and were out to carry out a search of the house.
An official at EACC denied they were involved and insisted it was the Asset Recovery Agency.
ARA has apparently been profiling Matiangi and two of his former colleagues whom they also plan to target soon.
They plan to also raid the homes of the two other former CS’ in what is seen to be politically motivated harassment.
“It is all about alleged questionable wealth but it would be hard to prove. These people have been in government for a long and can prove all they own,” said a source aware of earlier plans.
Witnesses said they had seen government cars near Matiang’i’s house in Karen in readiness for the operation.
The officers were accompanied by a team of police from the Karen police station.
They are said to have been armed with a search warrant at that time.
The news of the said attempted raid spread fast online attracting both anger and condemnation.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga is among those who rushed to the home on hearing about the raid.
He termed the attempted raid completely unacceptable.
“There is no reason why police should be coming to somebody’s home at this hour of the night. If Matiang’i has committed a crime warranting his arrest that should be made public and known to him and he can present himself for interrogation,” said Odinga.
He added: “This idea of arresting senior citizens at this hour of the night is something that is completely repugnant to civilization. This is completely unacceptable.”
By then the officers had left as Matiangi met his lawyers in the house.
Lawyer Danstan Omari said.
“I can confirm to every Kenyan in this country that the life of Matiang’i is at risk. We don’t know the intention of wanting to invade Matiang’i’s home at this time of the night. We don’t know why they want to arrest him and where they want to take him to.”
More leaders arrived at the home late in the night.