NAIROBI, July 29 – The Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence (CIPEV) was on Tuesday told that 46 people were killed in Naivasha during the skirmishes.
Area divisional Police chief Willy Lugusa told the commission that those killed were shot, slashed to death or burnt in their homes.
“Those slashed were badly mutilated and many of them could not be easily recognised,” he said.
“One of those killed was a police officer who was on leave but he was not attached to my division.”
The officer, Lugusa narrated, was on leave and lived in the Kongasis area.
The police chief recounted that they were able to arrest 156 suspects, many of whom have already been charged in court.
The suspects were first charged with preparing to commit a felony but the charges were later reduced to being in possession of offensive weapons.
He said he was not aware of their fate ‘because many of them have since been released’.
Lugusa further told the commission that youth who caused mayhem in the town were ferried there from other regions.
Justice Philip Waki, who is chairing the inquiry, said he would grant the officer a private session to supply them with names of some of the people who allegedly financed the violence.
“January 27th was the worst day in this town,” Lugusa reported, and added that it was the day they recorded the highest number of deaths.
The police chief said he resorted to call for assistance from the Prisons department when the situation deteriorated.
“My lords, I asked for assistance and I was given 100 Prison warders, who assisted us to quell the violence.”
He said the local police station hosted more than 10,000 internally displaced persons, including those whose houses had been torched.
Others had fled their homes for fear of being attacked.
On cross-examination by Counsel Mbuthi Gathenji, Lugusa was put to task to clarify allegations that he was among police officers who reportedly had used their firearms to shoot at people.
But he responded by maintaining: “I did not shoot at any time.”
The commission concluded its sittings in Naivasha on Tuesday and is expected to proceed to Nakuru on Wednesday, another region badly hit by the post poll skirmishes early this year that claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 people.
About The Author
