Details have emerged that close allies of Deputy President William Ruto on Monday night unsuccessfully tried to secure the release of Nandi Governor Stephen Sang from police custody.
Sang was on Monday afternoon arrested by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and detained at Kisumu Police Station waiting to be arraigned in court.
The county boss is being accused of malicious destruction of Kibwari tea farm over the weekend.
Following his arrest, three senior politicians from the Rift Valley camped at the police station till late night, trying to negotiate for Sang's release but in vain.
They were Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, his Kericho counterpart Aaron Cheruyoit and Nandi Deputy Governor Dr Yulita Chebotip Cheruiyot.
The trio left in the wee hours of the night without uttering a word to members of the press who sought their comments.
Before Sang's arrest, Murkomen had defended his (Sang) action of invading the tea farm and destroying the cash crop, saying it was in line with alleged President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive on repossession of grabbed land.
"I am told someone wants to arrest Governor Sang for demolishing structure/fixtures situated/growing in public land. That was a directive of the President and no public officer in national or county level was/has been arrested including in the Taj Mall & SouthEnd Mall," the Senate Majority Leader tweeted on Sunday.
However, the youthful county boss was apprehended and detained despite his lawyer Tom Ojienda obtaining a restraining order from Justice Stephen Githinji of the Eldoret High Court.