Former members of the disbanded Special Service Unit under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, in a Kahawa court, Kiambu County, on Tuesday. They pleaded not guilty.
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‘Killer police out to scuttle murder case using spies’
What you need to know:
- They have denied any wrongdoing and pleaded for lenient bail or bond terms.
- Prosecution wants the suspended officers detained further, saying they are flight risks.
- Prosecution claims the 16 police officers formerly attached to the disbanded Special Service Unit under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations were holding meetings with their sympathisers, including in the spy agency to scuttle the case.
They appeared hooded at Kahawa Law Courts, Kiambu, on Tuesday when they were arraigned to answer murder charges.
Four of them could not afford an advocate to represent them—a far cry from the invincible image that has been painted of the 16 ex-members of a dreaded police unit that has since been disbanded
When they were first arraigned last year, the courtroom was packed with curious Kenyans for the group had gained instant notoriety since President William Ruto first spoke about their alleged State-sponsored terror, including murderous rampage.
But on Tuesday, there weren’t as many people in court, perhaps given that as time wore on, they had disappeared from the limelight. Only a few of their relatives had turned up too.
That still did not discourage them from trying to conceal their identities in hoods, possibly because the prosecution’s plea, at one point, that they could be targets of lynch mobs, still rang true.
Despite their posture of helplessness, the State still told court of their powerful influence, including claims the 16 police officers formerly attached to the disbanded Special Service Unit under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were holding meetings with their sympathisers, including in the spy agency to scuttle the case.
Dr Ruto has said the disbanded unit waged a campaign of terror at the direction of the former administration and is accused of multiple cases of enforced disappearances. These include the abduction and subsequent killing of two Indian nationals—Mohammed Said Sami and Zulfiqar Ahmed—as well as their Kenyan taxi driver, Nicodemus Mwania, on July 23 last year.
The Indian nationals are reported to have had links to Dr Ruto’s presidential campaign team.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road.
“As for now, your honour, I will handle my own defence,” Fredrick Thuku, a police constable and one of the accused, told Senior Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage. Mr Thuku spoke in a low tone and looked frail. Three other co-accused made a similar plea that they would mount their own defence.
When the magistrate read out the charges to them, they all denied any wrongdoing and pleaded for lenient bail or bond.
Respite
They got a reprieve after the prosecution team withdrew an earlier miscellaneous application they had filed to detain the accused again. Prosecutors informed the court that the investigations had been concluded.
The accused have been out on personal bonds since last December. But their freedom was short-lived because the prosecution filed a fresh affidavit seeking to have 15 of them detained.
Prosecutors said the investigations had proved that the 15 were directly involved in the abduction and subsequent killing of the trio. The accused are drawn from the Kenya Forest Service, the National Intelligence Service and the DCI.
Also Read: Members of disbanded DCI unit revealed
They are Thuku, Peter Muthee, James Kibosek, Joseph Kamau, David Kipsoi, Joseph Mwenda, John Mwangi, Hilary Limo, Stephen Matunda, Simon Gikonyo, Paul Njogu, Boniface Otieno, Elikana Njeru, John Wanjiku and Michael Kiplangat.
However, one of the accused, Francis Mwendo Ndonye, was lucky after the prosecution team, led by senior assistant director of public prosecutions Michael Sang, told the court that the State had decided to release him unconditionally after investigations vindicated him.
“I am happy to be a free man. I am extremely happy,” Mr Ndonye said as he left the courtroom, accompanied by family members.
The case gained international attention as Mohammed and Zulfiqar reportedly jetted into the country during the electioneering period and were said to be working alongside the digital media team allied to Dr Ruto.
They were abducted near Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi, on July 22, 2022, and have never been seen since. The State prosecutors say they were executed on July 23 after being briefly held at Old Nairobi Area police headquarters.
On Tuesday, the State, through investigating officer Michael Kirui, put up a spirited fight in court in opposition of the release of the accused on bail or bond, claiming they have been attending meetings at Pangani Police Station organised by their allies, to scuttle the investigations.
“That I am advised by the counsel for the republic—which advise I verily believe to be true—that our courts have held that such well-founded fears of witness interference, owing to the sphere of influence of the accused person, more so in light of the work they are carrying out, is reason enough for our courts to deny bond. That the same was also confirmed by independent sources that the accused persons mobilised police officers and national intelligence officers who are sympathetic to their plight and were holding meetings at Pangani Police Station, which the accused used to attend via video conferencing to plan on how to scuttle the investigations at whatever cost,” Mr Kirui told the court in a sworn affidavit.
Mr Kirui also claims that the investigating officers are being trailed by the accused both at their place of work and residences just like the accused did to their alleged victims before they eliminated them.
“That true to their word, the investigating officers have noticed vehicle and static surveillance on them both at their offices and places of residences. That the same tactics were used by the accused persons and others who are still at large to trail the three missing victims in the foregoing case,” the court heard.
The prosecution team also wants their travel documents confiscated, terming them flight risks. “That there is real apprehension that due to the nature of these investigations, they are likely to abscond and, or, frustrate the process due to their skill set, having served in the elite Special Service Unit and they remain serving police officers, hence their travel documents ought to be surrendered in court,” the State told the court.
But the accused represented by advocates Wandugi Karathe, Danstan Omari and Clinton Mwale said the matter before court is bailable. They said they have cooperated with investigators for nearly a year and have been attending court sessions when called upon, terming the intention to hold them further a witch -hunt to appease the prosecution’s masters.
“Your honour, these are sacrificial lambs. I further submit that the accused persons we appear for have no influence in society and there is no material fact in the alleged roles they are accused of committing. The accused have no interest in knowing where the witnesses reside as alleged, and the state affidavit is based on speculation. The accused are committed to appearing before you until justice is delivered,’’ Mr Mwale told the court.
“The accused are already interdicted from the service, contrary to what the investigating officer has indicated in his affidavit and none of the accused possesses a passport, to allude to their being flight risk,’’ he added.
The court ordered their detention at Kiambu GK Prisons until November 3 when it will rule on their bail application.
