In July 2007, Samuel Wanyoike had just joined the Administration Police service. He was posted to Garbatulla, Isiolo County, for his first assignment. One of his early duties was to provide security at an ODM campaign rally in the area.
At that time, William Ruto was the Member of Parliament for Eldoret North. He was also one of the founders of ODM. Ruto was among the leaders campaigning for Raila Odinga, who was set to face President Mwai Kibaki in the presidential election just four months later.
Ruto arrived at the rally by helicopter. Inside that helicopter, there were packets of money. To this day, the total value of that cash has never been revealed.
While Ruto and other ODM leaders were addressing the crowd, a group of brave thieves sneaked into the helicopter and escaped with the money. Even now, no one knows who the money actually belonged to. Ruto’s communication officials did not answer questions about the incident.
Wanyoike says that in the middle of the rally, he decided to go closer to the helicopter to have a better look. But a corporal who was guarding the helicopter stopped him. Instead of chasing him away, the corporal gave him a brown envelope and told him to keep it. The corporal explained that the envelope contained allowances for the officers who were working that day.
“I was given that money in a brown envelope by my senior, who was a corporal at the time. He told me it was for paying the officers on duty,” Wanyoike said.
Accepting that envelope was the beginning of the end of his police career. It also marked the start of an 18-year fight to get his job back.
After the rally, when the helicopter left, officials discovered that the money was missing. The helicopter was ordered to return to Garbatulla immediately. By then, Wanyoike had hidden the envelope inside a metal stove at the AP camp. He had no idea that he was already in serious trouble.
He says he was later questioned by men in suits. They searched him and his belongings but did not touch the stove where he had hidden the cash. Shortly after, he was arrested and taken to Isiolo Police Station.
Wanyoike was never charged in court. However, on September 1, 2007, he was fired through a short letter. He was accused of being involved in the theft of money from the helicopter. He denies those allegations to this day.
“I asked myself, if I was the one who stole the money, why were the officers who were guarding the helicopter not arrested?” he said.
After losing his job, Wanyoike began a long fight for justice and reinstatement. He says he was never given a fair hearing nor shown any evidence against him.
In 2025, the Police Service stated that the decision to fire him was made under the old constitution and cannot be reopened.
For Wanyoike, the Garbatulla incident remains a wound that has never healed one that has left him with many unanswered questions.