Wamuzi News Ke
The news of a major security threat has not left Migori County in peace as the extremely alarming discovery of seven explosives beneath a critical point of infrastructure practically at the foot of President William Ruto’s planned visit to the area has taken place.
The event that began late Monday night has shocked the entire local security system and was able to block by a narrow margin what the authorities consider a potential disaster leading to a major transport route getting cut off.
The explosives were found underneath the River Kuja Bridge on the busy Migori-Sori road in Nyatike Sub-county, which is the main road for the presidential convoy. A civilian with a sharp eye and suspicious about a wire that looked like it was going into the bridge’s underbelly, called the police immediately and this was how the discovery was made, not by the intelligence agencies.
The difficult discovery was confirmed by the Nyatike Sub-county Criminal Investigation Officer Bernard Wamalwa, who said that the police had dispatched the bomb squad immediately to secure the place.
When the squad got there, they found and later counted seven different devices. Chemical analysis suggests that the discovered explosives are of emulsion and water-gel type, which are of industrial quality and thus are mostly used in heavy mining and quarrying.
At first, the near-simultaneous appearance of the explosives and the Head of State’s visit led investigators to suspect a political assassination or a terror attack, but eventually, they changed the motive to a strikingly different one that just as horrid—corruption has led to “economic terror.”
“Unusual planting is one of the signs that probably somebody wanted the bridge destroyed,” Wamalwa said to the reporters. “People living here are aware that the consequence of the bridge being destroyed is that the transport from Migori to Sori will be paralyzed. Perhaps someone was after a tender.”
The disclosure has painted a dark picture of local sabotage, with the implication that the evildoers were ready to take the risk of a mass killing and the downfall of the infrastructure in order to create an emergency construction contract.
Besides, the sort of brutal motive—making a public bridge impassable for a while to make a profit—has given rise to an even greater outcry along with the panic.The explosives appeared to be old and rusty, which was a sign that they might have been planted some time back, with a trigger for the explosion waiting to be pulled.
However, the fact that they were under a bridge, which connects thousands of commuters and is also to be used by VVIPs, has pointed out a gigantic security lapse.
The atmosphere at the River Kuja location was very tensed during the whole Monday night, and the tension went on to Tuesday morning. The specialized units were thoroughly searching the riverbanks and the bridge structure that no second devices had been hidden in the area.
The road was temporarily considered a crime scene, and this caused a frantic rearrangement of logistics for the presidential tour due to the close timing.This event is a warning of a more frequent and serious issue of the more reckless and resourceful use of bomb threats in populated areas.
It is also somewhat of a repetition of a similar incident that happened in Kiambu County the previous year when a farmer accidentally dug up a live mortar bomb. However, the getting together of seven charges in such a prominent bridge shows a much more sophisticated and bad-willed approach to the situation.
Migori is today celebrating the visit of the President with unprecedented security measures. The bridge is still being heavily protected and the search for the people who intended to kill and had already poisoned the crossing is on.
The community is very careful and afraid as they become aware of how near they were to a disaster that could have been for mere money.
