DP Ruto's office staff to be quizzed in Kenei murder probe
An undated picture of the late Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei, who was attached to DP William Ruto's office. Investigations into his death are ongoing. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Detectives will also question two employees of a telco and three Department of Defence (DoD) officials.
- Details of data recovered from Kenei’s phone that was used to send his wife Judy Chepsoi and father John Chesang Sh35,000 and Sh10,000 respectively remain scanty.
Four members of staff in Deputy President William Ruto’s office will Tuesday be questioned over the mysterious murder of Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei.
Detectives will also question two employees of a telco and three Department of Defence (DoD) officials.
The officers zeroed in on the individuals after obtaining call logs from Kenei’s cell phone.
Investigators say his killers were well known to him since they deleted his phone data and deactivated his social media pages.
The two individuals from the DoD have allegedly been in contact with Mr Daniel Otieno Omondi alias General Juma — one of the suspects linked to the fake Sh39 billion arms deal involving former Sports CS Rashid Echesa. Kenei was a key witness in the case.
SUMMONED
Of interest to the detectives is a colleague whom Kenei contacted on February 18 on how to go about recording a statement. It’s the same day he and his colleagues were summoned to record statements at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters.
Last week, DCI boss George Kinoti told journalists that Kenei had obliged. What is not clear is whether this was before or after he and his colleagues were summoned.
Details of the data recovered from Kenei’s phone that was used to send his wife Judy Chepsoi and father John Chesang Sh35,000 and Sh10,000 respectively remain scanty.
The 33-year-old was killed and left lying on the cold floor of his house. It is still not clear if Kenei was alive on February 18, the day his wife and father received the money.
The family could not reach him that day and the day after to know what the funds were meant for.
SUICIDE NOTE
On February 20, the Office of the Deputy President sent a brief statement to the Nation announcing the disappearance of one of its officers.
“One of the security officers who was on duty on Thursday, February 13 when former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa and two foreigners visited the Office of the Deputy President (Harambee House Annex) and who was required to record a statement among others had not done so and neither had he reported on duty since Wednesday, February 19, the day he was scheduled to appear before the DCI. A search for the officer has been launched,” read the statement in part.
At 2pm on the same day, officers from Embakasi Police Station responding to a distress call at Villa Franca found Kenei’s body in his house, bearing a gunshot wound. Next to it was a suicide note and a Jericho pistol — the alleged murder weapon.
The officers reported the cause of Kenei’s death as a suicide but oddly booked the incident under OB number 31/27/01/2020.
HOMICIDE
Later that evening, homicide detectives took over the case and widened the scope of the probe beyond suicide following reports that the scene had been tampered with.
On February 26, a post-mortem revealed that Kenei died from a single gunshot wound.
Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor said the gun had been held to Kenei’s chin, adding that he was killed “a day or two before his body was found”.
The bullet entered through the chin and exited via the forehead before hitting the ceiling.
According to CCTV footage obtained by detectives from Mr Ruto’s office, it was Mr Kenei who received Mr Echesa and his group into the DP’s second-floor office. Detectives believe Kenei was acting on the instructions of a high-ranking person in the office.
