Court summons Charles Keter to testify in Mercy Keino inquest

The late Mercy Keino

Kenya: Kericho Senator Charles Keter has been summoned to testify at the inquest probing the death of the late University of Nairobi student Mercy Keino.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Moses Omirera yesterday applied for summons for Keter and two other key witnesses, Morris Mihango and Benjamin Mutiso, to appear in court to give their version of the circumstances that led to the mysterious death.

Keter the then Belgut MP and Mercy's family disputed police claims that she died in an accident. The deputy DPP told court that the State seeks to scale down the number of witnesses expected to testify when the inquest resumes on November 13.

So far 45 witnesses have testified and 20 more were lined up to give their account of the events on the night of June 17, 2011 when Mercy was reported to have attended a party hosted by Kiambu Governor William Kabogo at Wasini Apartments in Westlands.

Yesterday, the inquest heard that DPP Keriako Tobiko appointed an investigator after conflicting accounts of the events at Wazini Apartments and the scene where the body was found on Waiyaki Way.

Senior Superintendent of Police Geoffrey Kathurima, who was appointed by the DPP to conduct further investigations, told the court that the possibility of a fatal road accident was not clear to detectives.

"It was not clear to the investigators how the deceased left Wazini only for her body to be found on Waiyaki Way," Kathurima said, adding that an inquest was needed to help resolve inconsistencies that arose in earlier investigations.