Special sleuths sent to probe Meshack Yebei's murder

A CID investigator from Nairobi interrogates Lilian Yebei, widow of Meshack Yebei, in Taptebee village in Uasin Gishu County Thursday. [PHOTO: PETER OCHIENG/STANDARD]

ELDORET: A special team from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Nairobi has taken over investigations into the abduction and subsequent killing of Meshack Yebei, who is said to have been a defence witness for Deputy President William Ruto at the ICC.

The officers from the Serious Crime Unit (SCU) arrived Thursday morning at Yebei's home in Kaptebee, Uasin Gishu County, and camped there for the better part of the day.

The deployment of special investigators from the CID headquarters follows communication from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) calling for thorough investigations into the mysterious killing of Yebei following a request by Ruto.

Wrote letter

Ruto's defence lawyer Karim Khan on Monday wrote a letter to CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro demanding swift investigations into Yebei's killing.

Khan, in his letter, revealed that the deceased was a defence witness in Ruto and Joshua Sang's case and it was appropriate to find the cause of his untimely death.

Information from local police indicate that the CID officers arrived at the Eldoret Police Station and took all the files containing information on Yebei's case before heading to the deceased's home in Turbo.

The team, led by John Kariuki, recorded statements from Yebei's family members.

As investigations commence, Yebei's family insists that the body lying at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary belongs to their kin, dispelling doubts over identity of the body.

Police sources, who sought anonymity, had told The Standard that preliminary results of fingerprints taken on the body recovered from River Yala had pointed to a possibility that it was not that of Yebei.

But the family, through their spokesman Ben Yebei, maintained that the body in the morgue is that of their abducted brother.

"We have not received information from the police or the doctors on the validity of the identification but as a family, we are certain that the body lying at the morgue is that of our brother Yebei," said the elder brother.

The 'ICC witness' was abducted on December 28, 2014, after he left Turbo health centre to buy water for his sick first-born son.

His body was later found by police after being informed by the public of a human corpse floating on River Yala in Nandi County, 70km from where he was abducted.

The family members later identified the body on Saturday.

Yebei's death has prompted accusation and counter-accusations, with a human rights activist linking some Jubilee MPs and a businessman to the killing even as the ruling coalition legislators demand investigations on an activist.

Human rights activist Ken Wafula on Wednesday linked two first time MPs and an employee of an oil company in Nairobi whose home is in Eldoret and several Members of County Assembly to the killing of Yebei.

But in a statement read by Majority Leader Aden Duale, the lawmakers demanded Wafula be investigated, insisting that they had emails allegedly from the activist touching on witnesses, who included Yebei.

Meanwhile, the family has said it will continue with burial plans.

Rev Moses Kisorio, the elder brother of the deceased, said preparations were going on well and they would bury their brother on Saturday.