Four police officers to face murder charge

Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) Chairman Macharia Njeru displays a report on the state of National Police Service, at their offices on February 22, 2016. A police inspector and three constables will face murder changes after independent investigations found them culpable. PHOTO | ROBERT NGUGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The inspector is based at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi while the constables are based in Kisumu.

  • The three constables, Mr Jotham Ikunda Kirigia, Mr Parminus Murimi and Mr Bernard Muchiri Njoka, will be charged with the murder of a colleague and his relative.

A police inspector and three constables will be charged with murder after independent investigations found them culpable.

The inspector is based at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi while the constables are based in Kisumu.

Investigations by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) revealed that most senior officers shielded their colleagues even when there was evidence.

In the inspector’s case, the Nandi Directorate of Criminal Investigations not only “untruthfully reported that they had killed a carjacker” but also recommended that the matter be disposed of through a public inquest.

However, Inspector Isaac Sirengo Siatah, then at Kabiyet Police Station, will now to be charged with the murder of Mr Edward Kipchumba Bargetuny.

Mr Bargetuny was heading home after picking up a relative when they were stopped by police.

The inspector allegedly shot at their car, deflating the tyres. When Mr Bargetuny stopped the car, the officer allegedly shot him again in the chest, fatally.

“The officers reported that they had killed a carjacker,” said the Ipoa report.

The three constables, Mr Jotham Ikunda Kirigia, Mr Parminus Murimi and Mr Bernard Muchiri Njoka, will be charged with the murder of a colleague and his relative.

The three allegedly confronted Constable Wycliffe Otieno Ndiga and his kin John Omondi in his house claiming that they were involved in crime.

The two men were handcuffed and shot dead, according to the report.

“On perusal of the Ipoa investigations report, the DPP concurred with the authority’s findings and recommendations and directed that the three be charged with the murder of APC Ndiga and Mr Omondi,” stated Ipoa.