Baby Pendo inquest: Police chief in trouble for skipping court

A senior police officer in Kisumu is on the spot over his failure to appear before court for two consecutive times to testify in an inquest into the gruesome murder of Baby Samantha Pendo.

The inquest was on Thursday adjourned after the key witness failed to turn up for hearing for the second time.

Senior Resident Magistrate Beryl Omollo termed the action by Kisumu Central Sub-County Administration Police Commander Benjamin Koima as disrespect to the court.

He called on the two investigations officers handling the case to take the matter seriously to be resolved on time.

"I want us to take the proceedings seriously to clear it due to the nature of the matter.

"It is wrong for this case to continue being dragged when the parties were contacted on time," she said.

The judicial officer issued summons to Mr Koima who is a prosecution witness to appear before the court tomorrow (Friday) at 10am without failure.

The Senior police officer who last appeared in court on June 11 had a rough time explaining where officers under him were during the time the six-month old child was assaulted.

This forced Justice Omollo to briefly adjourn the hearing to give Mr Koima time to bring before the court the operation order which he said would show where his officers were.

Mr Koima later appealed to be represented by a lawyer.

While maintaining that he has a right to be represented, the Lady Justice maintained that he personally have to be present in court.