Mob Torches Tow Truck as Police Reclaim Isiolo County Cars from Ousted Speaker Roba

There were chaos at the residence of ousted Isiolo County Speaker Mohamed Roba when a car was burnt as police tried to take away three cars belonging to the County Government.

A team of police officers had on Tuesday afternoon visited the home of Roba with an intention of taking away the cars belonging to the local county.

Roba was ousted as the Speaker of the county but has been holding on to some of the property belonging to the devolved unit.

Eight police officers went to the home seeking to take away a Toyota Land Cruiser VXL, which had been fitted with what they termed as an unauthorized number plate and two other four-wheel drive ones.

They were parked in the basement of the residence.

The team managed to gain entry to the basement in order to recover the said vehicles and while in the process of the recovery, Roba came with a group of rowdy youths and started harassing officers demanding them to vacate his compound.

The rowdy youths turned violent and began pelting officers with stones.

The team requested for reinforcement while withdrawing.

One police officer was forced to fire one round in the air to scare away the rowdy youths as they managed to escape the scene, police said.

More reinforcement team arrived and they went back to the scene when they realized one breakdown they were using in the mission had been set on fire and extensively damaged.

In the process, four police officers and one civilian, driver to the recovery vehicle were injured.

One of the government vehicles was damaged in the drama, police said.

The vehicles were removed from the home amid police investigations.

Roba has been on a warpath since his removal.

Roba and his allies have threatened to join Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s camp.

The group pledged to give Gachagua a grand reception upon his return from abroad.

This signaled a new political realignment as Roba’s faction repositions itself nationally.

“We align ourselves with the Mt Kenya East because that is where we are and wish to declare when former DP comes back from the US we will give a grand reception here in Isiolo,” a speaker of the group announced as Roba stood next to him while others clapped.

Roba is out of office after he miscalculated his political moves and led a group in a failed attempt to impeach Governor Abdi Guyo.

The High Court last Thursday extended orders stopping the removal of the recently gazetted Speaker, Abdullahi Jaldesa Banticha.

Justice Hellen Wasilwa set the mention for the case on September 22, 2025.

The judge had last week stopped the degazettment of Banticha.

She allowed an interested party to be enjoined to the proceedings and the Preliminary Objection and Application be canvassed first.

“The Interim orders are extended,” the judge ordered.

The Respondents are to file their responses to Preliminary Objection and Application within 14 days.

This was seen as a loss to Roba and his group.

The ruling comes amid deepening political infighting and a power struggle that has crippled operations within the devolved unit.

The judge barred any attempts to degazette or remove Banticha from office pending the hearing and determination of a petition he filed against the government.

“In the interim, no action be taken removing or degazetting the applicant as the Speaker of the Respondent,” the judge ruled last week, emphasizing the need to preserve the status quo until the matter is fully heard.

Roba moved to court seeking protection after the assembly clerk, Salad Guracha, revoked his recent appointment in a gazette notice published.

In his petition, Banticha named the Government Press and the State Law Office as respondents.

The court’s intervention sheds further light on the escalating crisis within the Isiolo County Assembly.

Banticha was installed as speaker, replacing Roba, who had earlier presided over the contentious and ultimately unsuccessful impeachment motion against Governor Guyo.

The fallout from that impeachment attempt has left the assembly bitterly divided and severely polarized.

It emerged that the Isiolo County Assembly has been operating with two rival speakers and two competing clerks, each faction claiming legal and procedural legitimacy.

This unprecedented scenario stunned members of the Senate and sparked urgent calls for institutional intervention.

According to official documents, Clerk Guracha—who signed the gazette notice appointing Banticha—had earlier been ousted by Roba.

But he was reinstated by a court.

Roba went ahead to appoint a temporary replacement.

However, Guracha challenged his suspension in court and was reinstated, further complicating the leadership matrix in the assembly.

The clerk has since named Banticha as the chairman of the county public service board.

The Senate threw out a petition to impeach Guyo.