Police Explain Why They Are Looking For Cleophas Malala

Police have explained the aim of the raid at former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala’s home as their attempts to arrest him hit a roadblock.

They are looking for Malala after they linked him to four electoral offences related to the Monday, August 29 gubernatorial elections that took place in the county.

Western Regional Commander Peris Kimani revealed that they wanted the outgoing senator to answer to charges placed upon him, having been identified as a person of interest in 4 out of 17 cases of violence recorded in the county.

DCI officers at Cleophas Malala's home on September 1, 2022. /FILE

Malala was alleged to have been in the centre of three assault cases that saw some Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party officials accosted by goons as well as robbery with violence incidents.

Kimani defended the resort to invading Malala's home as he had failed to honour their summons.

"Today our officers went to the outgoing senator's home to arrest him but he refused to let them in. He also failed to adhere to our summon's yesterday.

"This follows the cases which came up during the just concluded elections. We had so many people who were involved in election malpractice. He was linked to four of the reported seventeen cases and we needed him to come for processing," she told Citizen Digital.

Kimani urged Malala to turn himself in at the police station for grilling so as to establish what had happened before forwarding the matter for additional assessment. The process will also allow Malala to respond to the allegations.

“We are requesting him to appear at the police station so that we can process these cases and forward them to court. We as the NPS cannot conclude cases; they can only be wrapped up by courts. We are asking the Senator to appear at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) office for processing,” she said.

Western Region DCI boss Chacha Magwe backed up her sentiments and revealed that Malala was not the only one under investigation as they were looking for other political leaders involved in of violence, voter bribery and other electoral offences committed during the voting exercise.

Dismissing reports that Malala's arrest was politically motivated, Chacha warned Malala to surrender himself to the authorities or face additional consequences.

“It is not that we are investigating Malala alone; we are investigating every person who committed electoral offences on August 29. The cases were many and Malala is directly involved in four," he said.

"If he refuses to follow the law we are left with no choice but to use necessary force to get him because nobody is above the law."

The DCI officers who raided his home encountered Malala's mother, Martha Malala, who caused dramatic scenes to the point of daring the officers to arrest her.

"We learnt that the police were here when we were at home. Cleo is young and he has a long way to go.

"Why do they want to arrest my son? As a mother, I can not stand this kind of intimidation," an agitated Martha posed.