Three officers sat with Embu brothers, court papers reveal

Six police officers accused of murdering two brothers in Embu last month have maintained that the two jumped out of a moving police vehicle, even as court documents show that three of the officers sat in the back with several suspects during the tragic ride.

Seeking lenient bail terms, the officers say Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) bowed to public pressure to charge them with murder and ignored material evidence.

Benson Mputhia, Consolata Njeri, Martin Wanyama, Nicholas Sang, Lillian Cherono and James Mwaniki insist that one eyewitness saw brothers Emmanuel Mutura and Benson Njiru jump out of the vehicle on the night of August 1 on the way to the Manyatta Police Station.

Part of the evidence includes a sketch of the sitting arrangement in the vehicle carrying Mr Mutura and Mr Njiru alongside eight other detainees.

The sketch the Nation saw indicates that Ms Cherono, Mr Wanyama and

Mr Sang sat in the back of the Toyota Land Cruiser with the 10 detainees. While the officers say three of them sat in the back, they all claim that only one detainee saw Mr Mutura and Mr Njiru jump out of the moving vehicle.

“The sitting arrangement was such that Mr Mwaniki was driving the police Land Cruiser used in the patrol registration number GKB 277 and in the front seat were Mr Mputhia and Ms Njeri while at the back were Mr Wanyama, Mr Sang and Ms Cherono.”

Defence lawyer Danstan Omari asked the court to grant them lenient bail terms, arguing that Ipoa’s investigation is complete and cannot be interfered with.

Mr Omari has argued that the DPP ignored sections of the law that provide for an inquest when someone dies in police custody.

Justice Daniel Ogembo will hear the bail applications on September 22.

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