NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 24 – Kenya Ferry Services Managing Director Bakari Ngowa, Likoni Sub-County Directorate Criminal Investigation Officer (DCIO) and Corporal Moses Mahiuha are expected before Mombasa Magistrate’s Court to explain the handling of key CCTV footage in the 2019 Likoni ferry tragedy inquest.
The summons were issued after Principal Prosecution Counsel Alex Ndiema concerns over missing or incomplete video evidence related to the incident where Mariam Kighenda and her 4-year-old daughter drowned after their vehicle plunged into the Indian Ocean on September 29, 2019.
A video shown in court by current lead investigator Bob Otieno was deemed incomplete, as it did not capture the full sequence of events.
Corporal Mahiuha reportedly handed over the raw footage to KFS management.
Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku ordered the three to clarify the chain of custody and circumstances surrounding the video evidence.
The death of a mother and daughter whose vehicle plunged into the Indian Ocean on September 29 does not appear to have sent any warning message to the management of the Kenya Ferry Services (KFS).
The bodies of Mariam Kighenda, 35 and her daughter Amanda Mutheu, 4 were pulled out of the Ocean, two weeks after the vehicle slid off the back of an old ferry that is still used to transport passengers across the channel.
The incident has exposed inefficiencies and security risks passengers and motorists are exposed to, in what appears normal for locals.
On that ill-fated day, a Toyota ISIS slid-off the ramp of MV Harambee- one of the oldest ferries, and plunged into the Indian Ocean.
At officials at the facility confirmed that on the fateful Sunday evening, there were no patrol boats or stand-by divers to try and rescue the young family from drowning into the shark-infested deep waters.
It took several government agencies, the Kenya Navy and private divers, some hired from South Africa, 12 days to locate and retrieve the vehicle and the bodies which were still intact at the back of the car where they were on a tight embrace.
