Nairobi police deny bias in Hillary Mutyambai son accident probe

The son of Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai on Friday afternoon presented himself to Lang’ata Police Station after causing an accident that claimed two lives on Southern bypass, Nairobi.

He recorded his statement and was released on a cash bail of Sh20,000.

The revelation clears doubts of earlier reports that indicated the mysterious man behind the double killings could have been the son of a senior police officer in the country. But questions continue to linger over the whereabouts of the wreckage of the said vehicle.

The man, Mr David Mwendwa, had fled the scene of the Thursday accident, only to resurface hours later following piling pressure to have the police reveal his identity.

Eye witnesses say the grey Toyota Hilux double-cabin pickup veered off the road at high speed, hitting two boda boda riders heading the opposite direction before landing in a drainage channel along Southern Bypass.  Moments later, the two boda boda riders lay dead.

Driver fled

In the freak evening incident, three occupants, an adult male and two unidentified women, emerged from the wreckage of the vehicle, shaken but unscathed.

In a confounding turn of events, the driver of the pickup truck, registration Number KDB 421Z, disappeared from the scene.

But the police said the driver fled “to escape from angry motorists and boda boda riders” who swarmed the scene in the aftermath of the accident.

Speaking on Saturday, Nairobi Traffic Police Commander Joshua Omukata said the police are not “hiding facts about the accident.” He said that investigations are ongoing.

“That he is a son to the Inspector General does not count in this matter,” he said.

“We are investigating [the matter] without any bias.”

Mr Omukata further said that “a senior officer they are referring to is absolutely not directly or indirectly interfering with any process of investigations.”

This comes as questions continue to be raised over the manner in which the police have handled the matter.

 “We are still waiting for some small crucial evidence to have our file completed before we submit it to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions,” Mr Omukata said.

“We assure those complaining that the police are hiding facts that we are investigating this case accordingly,” he said.

Mr Mwendwa, the Traffic Commander said, would be arraigned upon conclusion of the investigations.

The eye witnesses claimed that the man was in a drunk stupor. But Mr Omukata said, “to go about a driver who’s perceived to be drunk, we must have a certification from the doctor to ascertain that this person was drunk. But at this stage so far, we do not have that evidence to prove that.”

While the two extensively-damaged motorcycles were towed to the Lang’ata Police Station, the wreckage of the Toyota Hilux couldn’t be found at the police yard.

Vehicles towed

Ideally, under the law, vehicles involved in an accident are towed to the nearest police station to allow for investigations within the same jurisdiction. 

Further, any vehicle that is involved in an accident resulting in injuries must undergo inspection at the Station by Nation Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) inspectors.

Normally, any vehicle that causes death is normally detained at the station until the driver appears and takes a plea in court. The court then either allows the vehicle to be released to owners (or otherwise detained as an exhibit).

“After inspection, we have got no other issue with the vehicle…The procedure is, once a vehicle has been inspected, we do not have any issue with it. What we remain with is the report. And it is that report which we have, forming part of the evidence,” the Nairobi traffic boss said. “Immediately after inspection, that vehicle was taken by the owners”

Stephen Musyoka Mutemi, 25, a boda boda rider in Nairobi, was one of the victims of the accident.

Mutemi’s family was trying to come to terms with the cruel death of their son on Friday.

After a frantic search of their kin who had failed to return home, the family visited seven police stations in Nairobi without luck. Their search ended at City Mortuary, where his body was positively identified by his uncle.

The family claimed the police did not give them crucial information about the cause of the death. 

“We were asked to bury the body and wait for further information,” claimed Mr Mwaniki, the victim’s brother.

Lang’ata Police Station

After identifying his body at City Mortuary where it had been registered as an “unknown adult male” on the fateful night, the family headed to Lang’ata Police Station, where the matter had been reported, to record a statement.

At the station, Nation.Africa learnt that the matter had been reported on Friday morning, more than 12 hours after the accident. What led to the delayed filing of the case is unclear, raising suspicions on the identity of the man.

The officer investigating the accident, a Mr Karanja, told Nation.Africa that he had spent the whole evening at the accident scene, noting that nothing concrete had come up.

“They told us that the vehicle was taken for inspection,” Mr Joseph Mwaniki, the victim’s father, told Nation.Africa

When Nation visited the scene of the accident, the area had been cleared of any debris, with only dirt marks of the killer vehicle. After a rainy night in the city, there was little to see at the spot.

Images shared on social media, however, show the alleged driver in a woollen sweater and seemingly soiled cream Chino pants and spotting a rugged beard.

How the heavily-built middle-aged man, who appeared shell-shocked, escaped from witnesses in an open area bordering Nairobi National Park on one side and a fenced off property on the opposite side, was one of the mysteries surrounding the matter.

A source who spoke to Nation off-record termed the driver of the Toyota pickup as “rogue”.

Those at the scene say the vehicle bore no insurance stickers.

In the past, motorists and pedestrians have been knocked down by VIP convoys with cries for justice unheeded as investigations are bungled and the culprits walk away with blood on their hands.

[email protected]. Additional reporting by James Kahongeh