The hunter becomes the hunted as more police officers face charges
Police officer Nicholas Musyoka Musau in the dock on December 22, 2023. He is charged with the killing of two people at a Nakuru night club in December last year.
Former police officer David Mwongera was last Friday jailed for 15 years for killing a 24-year-old man in Nairobi’s Majengo area four years ago.
Sentencing Mwongera, High Court Judge Daniel Ogembo noted that the victim—Hemedi Majid—was shot three times at close range following a confrontation on January 16, 2020. Judge Ogembo said that the use of force was not justified in the circumstances.
Majid was shot when he asked the police why they were arresting Mr Yassin Athman Mohammed, who was alleged to be in possession of bhang. In his defence, Mr Mwongera told the court that they were confronted and surrounded by rioting youth when they attempted to arrest the suspect.
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In its 2022 performance report, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) said that between July and December 2022, it received and processed 1,777 complaints ranging from death due to police action, enforced disappearance, sexual offenses, abuse of authority, physical assault and arbitrary arrest, among others. The highest number of complaints received was for police inaction, followed by physical assault and abuse of authority.
Mwongera’s case adds to a growing list of law enforcement officials who have been convicted or are facing charges in various courts for criminal offences. In the past two years, more than 100 police officers have been tried on charges including murder, kidnapping, robbery and bribery.
In Nakuru, constable Nicholas Musyoka Musau was charged last month with the murder of two people at a club on the night of December 12. The policeman shot four people at Loritas Liquor Club, popularly known as Vegas Club. Ms Ann Maina and Ms Laura Kwasira succumbed to gunshot wounds while Mr Benjamin Kote and Mr Edwin Apungana survived.
Last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recommended that the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Operation Support Unit Zachary Kariuki and six other officers be charged with torturing a suspect. The seven are suspected of torturing and injuring businessman Abdullahi Abdille Isaack and robbing him of his national identity card and about Sh2 million. The others are Chief Inspector Alexander Makoma, Sergeant Francis Singila and constables Ronald Chemosit, Gabriel Kuria, Jeremiah Chumba and Julius Lemayan.
And earlier this year, three police officers were arrested in Nairobi on suspicion of kidnapping a Chinese national. Constables Fredrick Mwongela Mwololo, Samuel Mwiti and Kimwele Musyoki, all of the General Service Unit (GSU), were arrested in Nairobi a week after the incident and charged before a Mavoko court. The case is due to be heard on February 12.
In Bungoma County, two police officers were arrested by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for allegedly soliciting bribes. Constables Charles Ogola and Vincent Orwa allegedly demanded a bribe to release a motorcycle they had impounded at Kanduyi police patrol base claiming it was stolen.
In Nairobi, Mr Victor Otieno Ouma, a GSU officer, is currently in custody at Lang’ata Police Station after being arrested in connection with the death of Nelvin Museti early last month. According to earlier reports, the 28-year-old woman fell to her death from the third floor of Ascot Apartments in Lang’ata on January 11. Detectives later arrested Mr Otieno and are charging him with murder.
On January 27, EACC officers arrested another police officer in Kasarani, Nairobi, while soliciting a bribe of Sh30,000 from a complainant. Mr Paul Kamau Mbugua was arrested for demanding a bribe to release two brothers he had arrested and detained at Kasarani Police Station.
In August last year, EACC arrested the officer in charge of Zimmerman Police Station in Kasarani, Inspector Susan Wambui Muiruri, for allegedly soliciting a bribe, an offense she had previously committed. She was accused of soliciting and receiving a bribe from the complainant to facilitate the release of his pregnant girlfriend.
Shortly before the August 2022 General Elections, two Indians — Mohamed Ziad Sami Kidwai and Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan—working for President William Ruto’s UDA party, were abducted by unknown assailants and have never been seen again. Later, 15 police officers from the defunct Special Service Unit, DCI and the National Intelligence Service were arrested and charged in connection with the disappearance of the two and their taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania.
The charges against them include abduction to commit murder, complicity in the commission of cruel treatment, conspiracy to commit a crime and forgery. The accused include Chief Inspector Peter Muthee, Inspector James Kibosek and corporals Joseph Kamau, David Chepchieng, Joseph Mwenda, John Mwangi and Hilary Limo.
The prosecution said they forcibly ejected the victims from their vehicle and bundled them into another one before their enforced disappearance.
At the High Court, 12 senior police officers are fighting charges of crimes against humanity brought against them for the killing of 39 people, including Baby Samantha Pendo, in Kisumu at the height of post-election violence in 2017. The police officers were charged under the International Crimes Act in 2022.
But the officers, including service commanders, challenged their prosecution under the Act, arguing that they did not meet the threshold of crimes against humanity.
Another emotive prosecution is that of six police officers charged with killing two brothers—Benson Njiru and Emmanuel Mutura—in Embu in 2020. The brothers are alleged to have been killed while police officers were enforcing the Covid-19 regulations.
In Kajiado, the High Court is hearing a petition to compel the government to charge GSU officers suspected of killing Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif on October 23, 2022.
Sharif’s widow, Ms Javeria Sidique, wants the court to force the government to preserve all electronic and physical evidence collected in connection with her husband’s killing.
The Pakistani journalist had fled his country in July 2022 to avoid arrest after allegedly criticising the country’s powerful military. He was shot dead in the Tinga area of Kajiado County in what police later described as a case of mistaken identity.
Sharif was a passenger in a Toyota Land Cruiser, and police claimed they were chasing another vehicle, a Mercedes Benz Sprinter van that had allegedly been stolen from Pangani. The next day, Ms Sidique says, the police chief admitted that police officers had “fatally wounded” Sharif in a case of mistaken identity.
