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Cape Town – Kenyan media reports that one of President Uhuru Kenyatta's official vehicles, a high-end bulletproof BMW limousine, was stolen from his police driver in Nairobi.
According to the Daily Monitor, the driver who was heading home after the day’s duties was stripped naked and abandoned in a thicket by the hijackers who then drove away in the vehicle.
Watch the news video here.
A report by the Daily Nation said although state house spokesperson Manoah Esipisu confirmed the incident, he denied the vehicle was part of the fleet the president uses.
By Thursday evening, the hunt for the vehicle and the suspects was ongoing, the report said.
The incident comes a few days after Kenyatta nominated a new intelligence chief with experience in the war on al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in neighbouring Somalia to stop a spate of attacks in Kenya blamed on Islamist militants.
Kenya has suffered a string of gun and grenade attacks in the past several months, including an assault on the upscale Westgate shopping mall in the capital Nairobi last September in which at least 67 people were killed.
Twitter was abuzz on Friday with reactions to the incident.
Uhuru Kenyatta's @UKenyatta official vehicle stolen by armed thugs. http://t.co/WUzrnADZ3c Interesting.
— Alex ML (@alexm860) August 29, 2014So @UKenyatta adopts a shoot-to-kill policy for armed robbers, & then his presidential car is stolen at gun point. #KenyansAreGoGetters
— saraokiror (@saraokiror) August 29, 2014You know the country is Kenya when someone has the balls to steal the president's official vehicle! But who does... http://t.co/knpxYuZvyo
— Kimbugwe Muzaphal (@Muzaphalk) August 29, 2014#Ruai people stole @ukenyatta presidential armoured car & left the driver naked ! I urge all humans to cease & desist from visiting #Ruai
— MuneneKinyuah (@MuneneKinyuah) August 29, 2014Police launch a massive operation to recover one of President Uhuru Kenyatta's official vehicle carjacked last night
— Citizen TV News (@CitizenTVNews) August 28, 2014Wow it's nasty! President Uhuru Kenyatta’s escort car stolen http://t.co/OtvKaWkXN8 via @dailynation we can't even secure @UKenyatta cars ?
— Ledama Olekina™ (@ledama) August 28, 2014
