Police linked to former Mungiki member’s death

On Saturday, Mr John Githinji will be laid to rest in Kieni, Nyeri County, even as mystery continues to surround his death.

The former Mungiki sect member is just one of more than 20 criminal suspects in Nyeri who have either ended up dead or gone missing under unexplainable circumstances.

OPERATION

For the last four months, police have been running an operation to rid Nyeri County of armed robbers and criminal gangs and the result has been a rising body count. The operation was triggered by the killing of Kamakwa location Chief Kimiti Nyuguto.

RESPONSIBILITY

Mr Nyuguto’s killing brought a renewed and brutal vigour in the war against crime. A directive by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to flush out criminals only fuelled police resilience in maintaining the operation as police turned to the trigger resulting in the biggest death toll ever recorded in Nyeri.

Records show at least 20 people have been killed during the operation and police claim responsibility for the bigger chunk of that death toll.

COMPLICITY

Mass transfers of senior and junior officers and reorganisation of the police department played a major role in the fight against runaway crime as the law enforcers took blame for complacency and complicity allowing gangsters to reign.

The changes saw former Kayole OCPD Ali Nuni take over as county police boss.

INVESTIGATION

Since August, police have taken responsibility for the killing of at least 15 of the robbery suspects. The rest police have either labelled them as murder cases under investigation or results of gang rivalry.

However, human rights groups claim police are to blame for the 20 killings and at least three disappearances of crime suspects in Nyeri.

DISAPPEARANCES

Independent Medico Legal Unit, Independent Policing Oversight Authority and lobby groups Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri) and InformAction now want Nyeri police bosses held responsible for the killings and alleged disappearances.

STATEMENT

So bad is the situation that the groups want Parliament to intervene. “There is a big problem in Nyeri and it is time for the parliamentary committee on security to step in and investigate these extrajudicial killings,” Muhuri official Francis Auma said in a statement.

HUMAN RIGHTS

At least four groups are accusing police of using excessive force and executing suspects in disregard of human rights and the law. “Criminals were willing to turn themselves in and we hoped for the justice system to take its course, but with this kind of situation these criminals will not turn themselves in. Whatever police are doing will only worsen things,” InformAction programme officer Samuel Wandimi told Nation.

SURRENDERED

Mr Githinji's mysterious death has become the highlight of the killings. Mr Githinji had surrendered alongside another robbery suspect Joseph Kang’ethe at the Central Regional Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters on October 22.

Police are said to have been pursuing Mr Kang’ethe alias Wakinanyu and Mr Githinji over links to violent robberies as well as re-emergence of Mungiki.

ELIMINATION

The two surrendered through InformAction and Muhuri, claiming their lives were in danger. “Githinji said police wanted him dead. He offered to present himself to the police to avoid possible elimination,” Muhuri chair Khelef Khalifa told the Nation.

EVIDENCE

While Kang’ethe was charged with robbery, Githinji was released on grounds police lacked evidence to prosecute him.

Mr Githinji’s disfigured body would later be found stuffed in a sack in Karia Dam outside Nyeri town. Preliminary investigations show his hands had been tied together and a rock attached to the body to keep it under water.

AUTOPSY

An autopsy report shows Mr Githinji was strangled. Activists claim police are responsible for his death and used the unusual technique to cover up.

Police, on the other hand, have denied the claim. “We had nothing against Githinji and that is why he was released. There was no reason to go after him. As far as we are concerned, this is a murder case which is under investigation,” Nyeri Central divisional police boss Paul Kuria said in a media briefing.