MRC suspects accused of killing police officers to remain in custody
Rashid Juma (front) and Mwinyi Hamisi Masoud (back) in court over the killings of four police officers on the eve of the 2013 General Elections. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The suspects were arrested four years years ago in connection with the killings of four police officers.
- Mr Juma and Mr Hamisi are said to have killed Mr Owuor, Mr Chebii, Constable Maithya and Constable Songira at Jomvu on March 3, 2013.
- The case will be heard on September 22 and 23.
- Some of the suspect’s accomplices, Jabir Ali Dzuya and Bwanamkuu Alwan, were sentenced to death after being found guilty.
Two suspected members of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) accused of killing four police officers will remain in custody for another 20 days pending the hearing of their case.
On Friday, the two suspects, Rashid Juma and Mwinyi Hamisi, appeared before Mombasa High Court Judge Dorah Chepkwoni and sought to apply for bond.
Justice Chepkwoni advised them to wait until the matter comes up for trial before they they can apply for it.
“The suspects can apply for bond when the matter comes for hearing, at the same time, they must be prepared to stand trial on the same date that the court will give,” she said.
The suspects were arrested four years ago in connection with a raid that left four officers dead, among them Changamwe OCPD Otieno Owuor and OCS Salim Chebii.
They complained that their case had not been heard though they had already been arraigned.
Previously, the MRC members had unsuccessfully applied for bond but the prosecution opposed their plea, saying the suspects are influential members in secessionist movement.
Mr Juma and Mr Hamisi are said to have killed Mr Owuor, Mr Chebii, Constable Stephen Maithya and Constable Andrew Songira at Jomvu in Miritini, Mombasa County, on March 3, 2013.
The court had been told that the OCPD and the OCS, along with a group of seven officers, had gone to a ground near a Kenya Tea Development Authority warehouse when they found the suspects and their accomplices armed with spears, rifles and crude weapons.
The group that comprised more than 100 youth descended on the officers with machetes shortly after their firearms run out of bullets during a fierce gun exchange with the group that lasted more than 30 minutes.
Prosecutors had told the court the brutal attack on the officers by the secessionist group was meant to deter local residents from voting since it was planned on the eve of the 2013 General Elections.
Some of the suspects' accomplices, Jabir Ali Dzuya and Bwanamkuu Alwan, were sentenced to death after being found guilty of committing the offence.
The case will be heard on September 22 and 23.
