Body with bullet wounds found in Lake Victoria

A body with bullet wounds has been retrieved from Lake Victoria.

It was said to be in a body bag and was taken to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.

Speaking at the mortuary after viewing the body, Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o vowed to seek the services of forensic experts to examine it as it had two holes in the chest.

He claimed the police killed those protesting against the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta and dumped their bodies in the Lake.

CEMETERY

He also called for a thorough probe whether the police could have buried some bodies secretly at the Mamboleo Cemetery.

The police have however refuted the governor’s claims saying they had no hand in the deaths.

“Police have got nothing to do with that one. We were called to collect the body, which we did. Those are baseless claims from the governor,” said Titus Yoma, the Kisumu County police boss.

But Prof Nyong’o challenged the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to thoroughly investigate police actions following the protests.

“I will be going to Nairobi tomorrow to get forensic scientists to come and examine the body to determine the cause of death,” he said.

DROWNING

While reports indicate that the body was discovered inside a body bag, the police who took it to the mortuary recorded cause of death as drowning.

Prof Nyong’o also claimed that at least four other bodies have been discovered inside body bags in the lake by fishermen and people who operate on the beaches of Lake Victoria.

"The mortuary attendant here has confirmed that the body brought here today has two holes in the chest. This now show that the claims that police killed protestors and dumped their bodies in the lake are true,” he said.

But the OCDP refuted claims that four bodies have been found in the lake saying only one was retrieved. "The claim about four bodies is baseless," said Mr Yoma.

There was an uproar in Kisumu a week to the general elections after police received 100 body bags and sanitary materials among them 14, 000 pair of gloves, 14 first aid kits,

1,400 litres of disinfectant and 14 rescue stretchers from an NGO - Malteser International.

According to the organisation, the donations were aimed at supporting the police in disaster preparedness.