Police in a spot over 78 murders in nine months

The last words Maria Wangari spoke to her son John ‘Mrefu’ Githinji were, “Please come home.”

It is a conversation she had with him on the phone before he disappeared from Nyeri town on November 25, 2018.

He was working at his barbershop when one of his clients who owed him Sh30 for a haircut asked him to accompany him to the Nyeri-Nairobi bus stage and promised to pay him Sh100 instead of Sh30.

Two weeks later, his lifeless body was discovered bound and stuffed in a sack at Karia Dam on the outskirts of Nyeri town.

It could have been just an ordinary case of kidnapping and murder, except that Githinji, 42, had surrendered to police on October 22, alongside Joseph ‘Mo East’ Kangethe, 33, expressing fear for their lives after they were linked to the murder of a chief. According to the postmortem examination carried out by Independent Medico Legal Unit (IMLU) pathologist Peter Ndegwa, Githinji’s body exhibited signs of asphyxiation (suffocation).

“There was neck compression indicative of manual and ligature strangulation. There were no visible defensive wounds, meaning the person was overpowered or there was more than one attacker. The body was also badly decomposed,” Ndegwa said.

Caught stealing

On August 30 this year, Henry Muchangi, 25, was allegedly caught stealing at a pastor’s house in Kigumo, Embu East sub-county, and was locked up at Kigumo Police Post.

He was found dead inside the cell the following morning by police officers on duty.

The IMLU is currently investigating what could have happened to him. His is among 78 cases the rights group has recorded since January this year as extra-judicial killings.

According to a report by the IMLU on the deaths that occurred from police bullets from January to September 30, 2019, out of the 78 cases of police killings, 59 were summarily executed, 13 were killed to protect life, while six died in unclear circumstances. The National Police Service Act, 2011 provides that firearms may only be used when less extreme measures are inadequate. “Firearms may only be used to save or protect the life of the officer or other persons and in self defence and in the defence of other persons against imminent threat to life or injury,” the Act states.

However, IMLU is sounding a warning that the number of incidences of use of lethal force by police is rising. Based on the report, in 2018, a total of 121 people were victims of extra-judicial killing, with 92 murdered in summary executions and 17 killed to protect life.