DPP orders action taken against Chemorei killers

By Pamela Chepkemei

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko has directed two state agencies to take action against police officers implicated in the death of former senior policeman Erastus Chemorei.

Mr Tobiko has asked the National Police Service Commission and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) to take action in accordance with their legal mandates.

The DPP wants legal and administrative action taken against the responsible police officers whom he did not name in the letter to the relevant state agencies.

The letter is also copied the Inspector General of Police, David Kimaiyo and the Director of CID, Mr Ndegwa Muhoro.

“Additionally I am of the view that independent re-investigation by IPOA is warranted in the circumstances of the matter,” said the DPP.

Mr Chemorei, a senior General Service Unit Officer was shot dead under mysterious circumstances at his home in Kitale by fellow policemen on February 19, 2005. The police claim he was shot as he attempted to escape, after guns were found at his Kitale home.

But his wife, children, and a neighbour disputed the account given by the police. They accused the police of shooting him at close range.

Before he met his death, Chemorei was in charge of a room where seized cocaine worth Sh6 billion was stored.

Mr Tobiko made the decision following recommendations by a team of Government officials he appointed from three state agencies to look into the findings of a public inquest and advise him accordingly.

The DPP  says in a letter  that  he has decided  to let  IPOA and NPSC  deal with the matter  because  of the recommendations  made by the team comprising of  representatives of   the Kenya  National Commission  on Human   Rights, IPOA and  Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions   who  re-evaluated the matter.

The team found no evidence to warrant the DPP to re-open the inquest.

“The team however  recommended  that the file  be forwarded   to the IPOA  and NPSC  for them  to take necessary action  in term of their respective mandates including  the taking  of such legal , administrative  or other appropriate  action against  the police officers  involved in the incident  that led to the death of deceased,” said Mr Tobiko.

The inquest into his death showed that Chemorei was ambushed by a group of between 40 and 50 police officers and sprayed with bullets.

But the magistrate ruled that there was no evidence to identify the officers who fired the bullets that killed Chemorei.

In the findings, the magistrate said officers, whose identities senior security agents in the region failed to disclose, carried out the action.

"In conclusion, I do find that the deceased person was without any reasonable excuse executed in broad daylight," said Eldoret Senior Principal Magistrate Ann Onginjo in her ruling dated August 19, and certified last Wednesday.

The inquest was to establish the cause of death of Chemorei, which occurred on February 19, 2005, when police officers from Kitale Police Station raided his Kitalale home allegedly to recover arms following a tip-off by an informer.

After considering the evidence of 39 witnesses, the inquest found that Chemorei was sprayed with bullets from long-and close-range and from all directions.

"There were at least seven bullet entry points into the deceased’s body, leading to the conclusion that death was a result of multiple injuries in the head and in both hands," read part of the ruling.

Onginjo ruled the inquest closed under Section 387 (4) of Criminal Procedure Code and directed that a copy of the ruling be forwarded to the Attorney General.

The magistrate noted that the DCIO did not have the names of the 40 to 50 police officers he led to the raid and there was no register produced for issuance of firearms.