The LSK through advocates John Khaminwa and Professor Ben Sihanya however insist on cross-examining Muhoro on other suspects being pursued for the murders/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 20 – When Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro appeared before High Court judge Luka Kimaru on July 5, the man behind the bench could not help but marvel. “Let me ask you a very simple question, roho safi, have we ever seen the DCI attend any court proceedings?”
But as it turned out on Wednesday, it was to remain the exception and not the rule as the DCI, who had been expected, sent a proxy in the form of a written statement.
He had committed to returning after a period of 14 days to give an update on investigations into the brutal murders of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and driver Joseph Muiruri after revealing that the US Federal Bureau of Investigations had been invited to assist.
But he was nowhere to be seen on Wednesday. “Where is Ndegwa? I don’t see Ndegwa?” Justice Kimaru observed when the case file number was called out.
READ: FBI to join probe into murder of lawyer, 2 others
The judge wasn’t the only one left disappointed by the no-show; the Law Society of Kenya took great exception to the failure by Muhoro to appear before the court in person describing his written report as “inadequate.”
The report in a very general way described the events that led up to the arraignment of four Administration Police Officers on Monday for the murders, which Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Mutuku said was done purposely so as not to prejudice the criminal case before Kimaru’s counterpart, Justice Jessie Lessit.
The LSK through advocates John Khaminwa and Professor Ben Sihanya however insist on cross-examining Muhoro on other suspects being pursued for the murders and on what transpired in the fabricated container where the now deceased persons were held on June 23 before being transported to Soweto Area in Mlolongo where it is believed they were killed the same night.
“The investigation must cover not only those directly responsible for the deaths but also the planning and organisation lying behind those actions,” Khaminwa said in support of the issue of summons for Muhoro.
READ: Mavoko MP arrested over AP camp burning
The State on the other hand applied to have the proceedings in their entirety terminated on the grounds that the LSK’s interests and those of the families could be adequately represented in the criminal proceedings.
“They were after all present when the suspects were charged,” Mutuku pointed out.
READ: 4 APs deny killing lawyer Kimani, client and cab driver
Kimaru said he would rule both on the application for summons and termination of proceedings on August 10 when he would also rule on Safaricom’s application to be excluded from the proceedings and on the question of compensation for Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri’s dependants.
About The Author
