Five top detectives appointed to investigate Garissa University College attack

Five senior detectives have been appointed to investigate the Garissa University College terror attack and conduct general response to it.

 The team will be headed by head of operations at CID headquarters Mohamed Amin. The other members include Ngatia Iregi, Lidia Ligami, Bruno Soshio and Jason Mworia.

 The team was appointed by Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet to investigate, among others, why the Garissa County security team failed to stop the terror attack even after they had been warned of a pending attack.

They will be joined by five prosecutors who have been appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko to assist in the probe.

 This follows Tuesday’s request by the Cabinet Secretary Interior Joseph Nkaissery that the DPP sends a team to help in the probe.

New police commanders have been sent to Garissa following the suspension of nine officials over the attack.

 The new commanders include Shadrack Maithya as the county commander and Nicholas Maina as the OCPD.

 Nine top security commanders of Garissa County were interdicted over the attack and may be prosecuted over various charges once investigations into their conduct ahead of the attack prove there was criminal negligence.

“I am convinced of the need for thorough investigations into the terrorist attack on the Garissa University College to establish possible criminal culpability of individual officers or relevant security committees,” said Nkaissery.

Those suspended include the regional coordinator Ernest Mwinyi, County Commissioner Njenga Miiri, the County AP commander Christopher Muthee, CID boss Musa Yego, police county commander Charles Wambugu and the sub county AP commander John Cheruiyot.

Others include the local head of Anti-Terror Police Unit Mutuku Kimanzi, OCPD Benjamin Ong’ombe and Deputy OCS Charles Ayoro.

 The minister took the action after two teams he and Boinnet had appointed presented their reports on the attack.

The teams wanted to establish why the attack took place despite the fact that security officials there had been alerted.

The team noted there was rampant corruption and smuggling of refugees in the area, which affects security.

The team noted that a day before the attack, only four police officers had been deployed to guard the Garrissa University.

The County Intelligence and Security Committee (CISC) had received information that the college was among the areas that the Al Shabaab were planning to attack.

The CISC had recommended that eight police officers be deployed to the areas named as terrorist targets but this did not happen due to the shortage of police officers.

The team reduced the number to four.

Some 148 people including 142 students were killed in the attack that was staged by four terrorists on April 2.