KENYA PRIME MINISTER'S COMPUTERS STOLEN DAILY NATION - Raila’s private office burgled in raid:

Raila’s private office burgled in raid

By DOMINIC WABALAPosted Sunday, July 5 2009 at 22:30

Burglars broke into Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s private office early Sunday morning and stole four computers and a gas cylinder.

The burglars are reported to have broken into the Jaramogi Odinga Foundation offices off Kiambere Road in Nairobi’s Upper Hill around 4am. Burglary is not uncommon in the area.

The office is private and, unlike his offices at the Treasury Building and home, it is not guarded by police.

The PM also has another private office in the area at what used to be his campaign headquarters.

Kilimani DCIO Philip Okwatch and senior officers from Nairobi area provincial police headquarters visited the foundation’s offices near the World Bank offices to begin investigations.

A caretaker who went into the offices in the morning found the main door broken and established that computers were missing.

Two guards who were on night duty have apparently gone missing.

Mr Odinga has termed the burglary “an ordinary case of crime”.

But he said the incident was “a continuation of crime that every Kenyan is now exposed to”, according to his spokesman Dennis Onyango.

Guards on duty in the day yesterday said the burglars broke into the premises, damaged doors and carried away four computers, while scattering documents all over.

According Mr Onyango, the PM felt criminals were having a field day and were getting bolder. “Everyone is feeling unprotected now. That should be of concern to security agencies,” he said in a statement.

Needs security

He called on security officers to ensure the safety of everyone. “It does not matter whether it is Jaramogi Odinga Foundation or a stall in Tom Mboya Street that has been raided. Everyone and every institution needs security,” he said.

A wave of crime has hit Nairobi with kidnapping and gun crime being reported by police.

Two weeks ago, Youth Affairs permanent secretary Kinuthia Murugu was shot by gangsters in Kilimani and is still in hospital.

In other crime incidents, police are looking for suspects alleged to have stabbed and snatched a pistol from a police officer on patrol in Ruaraka area on Sunday morning.

The officer was trailing suspects with his colleagues when he was tackled by one of the suspects and his pistol snatched.

Additional reporting by Paul Juma