Two on murder charge over Lamu raids

Nearly 70 people were arrested when a special police squad deployed to restore security in Lamu and Tana River counties mounted a crackdown in the two regions between Tuesday night and Wednesday.

And in Mombasa, a Lamu landowner arrested earlier in the week was charged with 60 counts of murder. Mr Mahadi Swaleh was charged jointly with a matatu driver, Mr Dyana Salim Suleiman, in connection with the Mpeketoni killings last month.

Mr Suleiman had been charged with the murder of 12 people last week but on Wednesday the prosecution substituted the earlier charges and jointly charged him with Mr Mahadi. Both denied the charges when they appeared before Mr Justice Martin Muya.

According to the prosecution, the offences were committed during the period between June 15 and 17 at Kaisari village and Mpeketoni Township in Lamu County. The judge directed that the two be remanded and the case be mentioned today before Justice Edward Muriithi.

In Lamu, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr Samuel Arachi, on Wednesday said 69 people were arrested in the night-long operation during which the officers combed two forests in Lamu and in the Kipini area of Tana River.

Seven were arrested at around 4.30am on Wednesday in Mokowe forest while 17 others were seized at Kipini. Even hotels and private villas were not spared as security officers searched them for potential suspects.

“We will not leave here until we arrest all the criminals who have been killing and causing mayhem here. We are determined not to allow this nonsense to continue,” said Mr Arachi who was leading the operation.

He dismissed speculation that the team could have arrested innocent people in an attempt to beat a 48-hour deadline given by Deputy President William Ruto for security chiefs in the two counties to arrest the killers or quit their jobs.

“We are not just arresting anybody. What would somebody be doing in a forest at a night with all sorts of things,” he asked but refused to give details.

HUGE AMMOUNTS OF FOOD

Police have also been investigating intelligence reports that a hotel has been purchasing huge amounts of food although it only had few registered guests.

Police sources indicated that workers of the hotel under investigation have been making frequent visits to Lamu market to buy fruits, vegetable and other foodstuffs although most hotels in the area have recorded a low number of visitors.

“The matter has been brought to us by traders who were disturbed by the frequent purchases being made by workers from that hotel,” said a security official on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, an NGO has criticised the ongoing police operation in Lamu and Tana River. Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid claimed that the police were engaging in arbitrary arrests.

“Reports from the ground indicate that certain communities are now being profiled and targeted by the police who are now desperate to just arrest in order to save their jobs,” he said.

“While we support security operations to weed out criminals, particularly the attackers who are responsible for the deaths of over 80 Kenyans in that region, we must ensure that these operations are done fairly without profiling certain communities and further violating constitutional rights,” he said.

Additional reporting by Philip Muyanga