State House intruder: NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 12 – The father of State House intruder Brian Kibet Bera is now appealing for help from the government “because my son is mentally troubled.”
David Bera said the family has struggled with the 25-year-old for long and has never found a solution, hence the need for government intervention.
The Mechanical Engineering student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) is at Kenyatta National Hospital nursing a gunshot wound sustained on Monday during a confrontation with GSU officers when he tried to enter State House.
“My boy has never been a criminal in his life. I have never even disciplined him over any issue, and this can be confirmed in records back in primary school and even in Nairobi school,” Bera’s father said in a Citizen TV interview on Tuesday night. “They should help my boy.”
Kibet, was shot when he jumped over a perimeter wall into State House, a day after posting his intentions on Facebook.
The fifth-year student had been making what authorities’ termed as “sensitive posts” that only culminated to the trespass into State House while armed with a knife.
In his latest post, Kibet said he had been sent by God to “deliver judgement” to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his ‘sympathizers.’ His Facebook page was brought down by authorities on Tuesday.
“For someone to sit and write such kind of things and actually proceed to go there the following day, cannot be termed as a normal occurrence,” a senior officer said, opting not to be named for fear of reprisals due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“We are talking about State House, not any other compound,” another officer said, “this is a facility guarded round the clock by officers from the elite Recce squad of the General Service Unit (GSU).”
Police have said they plan to prosecute the A student from Nairobi School with trespassing State House which is a protected area and could also face other charges of assault because he tried to stab a GSU officer.
-Past bizarre incidents-
According to his father, it was not the first time his son was doing something bizarre because he was once arrested while trying to climb Mt Kenya.
In 2017, for example, Kibet who had visited his maternal home in Kitale would just disappear for several occasions, and at one point he was found deep inside Mount Elgon forests.
“He wanted to stay inside the caves there,” his father said, “He had also been found along river, where he had attempted to drown himself in the deep end.”
And in February last year, Kibet is reported to have made a trip to Naro Moru town in Nyeri County, this time to climb Mount Kenya.
He was arrested and locked up for two days without a charge.
“I was called there by the OCS Naro Moru, who informed me that he was being held there. I travelled and explained to them his mental condition after which they allowed me to go with him, to seek medical assistance,” a visibly distraught father narrated.
Still in 2018, Kibet who calls himself the Prince of Ethiopia wanted to visit Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa and he wanted to walk all the way.
But after three days, he called his father, tired and hungry, pleading with him to send a Sh1000 to buy some food.
After this incident, Kibet was admitted to a city hospital for 2 weeks and assigned a psychiatrist, but the problem has persisted.
Despite his condition, his father said, Kibet has continued to excel in his studies at the JKUAT.
In one of his posts on Facebook, Kibet had threatened to abandon studies saying it was “keeping me away from God” and was ready “to become a slave in Ethiopia.”
The only thing that kept him from going to Ethiopia, he said, was money.
“It is a spiritual war. The devil has no power to kill me. He may only torture me. Remember Samson was never killed by the Philistines. Only torture. I am dropping out of school. Schooling is torture and spiritually satanic. It drives me away from God,” Kibet posted days before the daring State House journey.
Bera’s incident has sparked mixed reactions on social media, with some hailing his actions, but his father has warned against taking advantage of his son’s mental condition, to advance any narrative.
“My boy is not well. He is a resourceful boy if he can finish this course, this July. This is a boy who can help this country, should just be given medication and allowed to contribute to the development record of this country. He has no criminal record,” he insisted.
-Past trespassing incidents at State House-
In 2015, a man was arrested within State House compound and when challenged to explain his mission, the suspect said he wanted to meet his ‘friend’ President Kenyatta.
The following year in 2106, a 29-year-old man sneaked inside State House, just to “see it with my own eyes”, a place he had only seen on televisions and newspapers.
State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena-Mararo on Tuesday issued a statement reminding the public that State House is a designated protected area under the Protected Areas Act.
For that reason, she said, no person is allowed access to the premise without the permission of the prescribed authority.
By JOSEPH MURAYA
