Three police officers based in Kisii have been arrested to face murder charges following the death of a 45-year-old suspect while in police custody.
According to an inquest report, Francis Mainyura died while in police custody at Motonto Police Post in 2015.
The three officers are set to be charged after an inquest file was opened and forwarded to Chief Magistrate court in Kisii.
“The court has ruled that the three police officers be charged with offence of murder,” read the report reads in part.
They include Senior Sergeant Tom Magunda (No.218058 Kisii Central CIPU), Corporal Ekiru Areman Chegem (No.211621 Kitutu Chache Central CIPU) while the third officer is yet to surrender before the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) office at Kisii County headquarters.
They are set to be arraigned tomorrow.
Separately, the civilian oversight body against police, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched murder probe into deaths of two people while in police custody.
Vitalis Okinda allegedly died while in police custody at Bondo Police Station while Ibrahim Omar died in Rhamu area of Mandera County.
25-year-old Vitalis was reportedly arrested on January 8 for a minor traffic offence and had been held at Bondo Police Station.
He was later reported dead although the family claims mischief.“He was arrested for a traffic offence and taken to the Bondo Police Station. However, a day later police called and said that he had died. They arrested him when he was alive and kicking, how he ended up dead remains a mystery to us as a family. Police officers who were on duty for the two days he was there should be honest about his death,” Dominic Misolo, a family member lamented.
Besides the two deaths, the authority is also investigating another incident in which a police officer in Imenti South shot and seriously injured a man for allegedly not wearing a face mask in public.
