The man who breached the presidential security cordon during Madaraka Day celebrations in Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium has been identified as 19-year-old Dickens Otieno.
Detectives said Mr Otieno (pictured), who is still being grilled at Nakuru’s Central Police Station, has told them that he is a student and travelled from Nairobi on Wednesday morning.
“The suspect said during interrogation that he stays in Nairobi and travelled to attend the ceremony with the mission of meeting the President,” said the detective.
The teenager, he said, accessed the venue at around 8am and at 1pm walked to the President to request him to pay his school fees.
“He said all he wanted was to request the President to help him meet his education needs and that he was interested in enrolling for a sales and marketing course in university,” said the detective.
The detective said Otieno said that he took advantage the moment the gates were opened for people enter and sit in the field to walk swiftly to where the President was. He greeted the President and handed him a note bearing his personal details before he was whisked away by security officers.
“We are still interrogating him to know exactly how it happened because it has baffled the security around the President that such a breach of security can happen so carelessly,” the officer said.