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When former Minister Raphael Tuju was blocked out of his Karen home by police officers. [Courtesy]

The DCI had sought search and seizure orders to retrieve CCTV footage believed to be linked to the circumstances surrounding Tuju’s disappearance.

In its ruling, the court held that the materials presented did not establish a clear basis for investigation against Tuju to warrant the intrusive orders being requested.

The DCI’s Langata unit had filed the application under Section 118 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which empowers courts to issue search warrants where there is proven reasonable suspicion that evidence relevant to an offence is held at a specific location.

The application was anchored on a suspected offence of giving false information to a person employed in the public service, contrary to Section 129(a) of the Penal Code.

According to the supporting affidavit, the DCI received a report filed under OB No. 17/22/03/2026 at Karen Police Station by Tuju’s son, Manu Tuju, who reported his father missing after a Toyota Land Cruiser, registration KCL 346P, was found abandoned with hazard lights on at Miotoni Lane on March 22.

Investigators noted that Tuju’s phone was switched off, as was that of his personal assistant, Stephen Okoth Mwanga.

His aide, Ronald Otieno, told police he had last seen Tuju at Entim Sidai Hotel in Karen on the evening of March 21, from where the two were reportedly headed to Ramogi FM for an interview.

On March 23 at around 2pm, Tuju reappeared, claiming he had taken refuge at an undisclosed location within Kiambu County.

Intelligence, the DCI averred, suggested he had in fact remained at his Karen premises throughout the period he was reported missing.

However, Magistrate Mutai found the application legally deficient.

In her ruling, she noted that the OB report, which triggered the investigation, was filed by Manu Tuju, not the Respondent himself, yet the investigative warrant was sought against the Respondent.

While acknowledging that a separate suspected false report by Tuju himself had been alluded to, she found that its particulars had not been placed before the court.

“As it stands therefore, I find that on a balance of probabilities, the application does not disclose an offence that is to be investigated on the part of the Tuju himself for instance, of him Giving false information to a person employed being investigated as against a person employed in the service contrary to section 129 (a) of the penal code,” Magistrate Mutai ruled.

“In view hereof, I find that it is only in the interest of justice that the application be struck out and so hereby strikes out the application dated 24/3/2026 with no orders as to costs.”

As a result, the application was dismissed, effectively halting the DCI’s bid to access CCTV footage from the former Cabinet Secretary’s residence.

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When former Minister Raphael Tuju was blocked out of his Karen home by police officers. [Courtesy]

A Nairobi court has dismissed an application by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) seeking orders to search the Karen home of former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju in connection with his reported disappearance earlier this week.
The DCI had sought search and seizure orders to retrieve
CCTV footage believed
to be linked to the circumstances surrounding Tuju’s disappearance.

However, Milimani Principal Magistrate Daisy Mutai found that the application failed to disclose sufficient grounds to justify the orders sought, noting that the threshold required under the law had not been met.
In its ruling, the court held that the materials presented did not establish a clear basis for investigation against Tuju to warrant the intrusive orders being requested.

The investigators, led by Inspector Francis Gitau, sought court orders to enter Tuju’s premises along Mwitu Road, House No32 in Karen, and extract unedited CCTV footage covering the period between 7pm on Friday, March 21, and 2pm on Sunday, March 23, 2026.
The application was anchored on a suspected offence of giving false information to a person employed in the public service, contrary to Section 129(a) of the Penal Code.

His aide, Ronald Otieno, told police he had last seen Tuju at Entim Sidai Hotel in Karen on the evening of March 21, from where the two were reportedly headed to Ramogi FM for an interview.

On March 23 at around 2pm, Tuju reappeared, claiming he had taken refuge at an undisclosed location within Kiambu County.
Intelligence, the DCI averred, suggested he had in fact remained at his Karen premises throughout the period he was reported missing.

However, Magistrate Mutai found the application legally deficient.
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In her ruling,
she noted that the OB report
, which triggered the investigation, was filed by Manu Tuju, not the Respondent himself, yet the investigative warrant was sought against the Respondent.
While acknowledging that a separate suspected false report by Tuju himself had been alluded to, she found that its particulars had not been placed before the court.