How trigger-happy police officers conceal evidence that incriminates them

Police keep vigil during Saba Saba protests in Kitengela, on July 7, 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard] The anti-government protests of 2024 and 2025 have seen a disturbing pattern where protesters are killed with reckless abandon and evidence vanished or doctored to tell a different story. In several clips shared online, police officers are recorded aiming directly ahead of them, as they stalk protesters they soon shoot. Such scenes have been recorded in many areas including Limuru, Juja, Kiambu, Kinoo and Nairobi. "Nitakupiga risasi nikueke kwa fridge (I will shoot and put you in a mortuary)," growled an officer, firing in a viral video. And in the end a trail of death is left behind, sometimes with critical evidence wiped out. Take the case of the death of Fred Wamale Wanyonyi, a security guard who reported for duty at Kenya Power's Stima Plaza on June 25, 2024. That morning, Nairobi was bracing for mass demonstrations. Wanyonyi wasn't a protester-just a man trying to earn a living. Hours later, he was dead-shot outside his workplace. Police said he was killed "during chaos" and died at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital. But the post-mortem raised more questions than answers. The bullet that pierced his abdomen and broke his spine was missing. There was no exit wound. No recovered slug. "How can I have peace when no one can explain this?" sobbed his widow, Merceline Otieno Kesa. Their lawyer, Samuel Chelongo, was blunt: "If the bullet's not in his body, someone removed it. There is no other explanation." Rights activist Hussein Khalid, CEO of Vocal Africa, demanded an investigation. "Doctors advised an X-ray to see if the bullet was still in the body. If it's gone, we'll be forced to conclude there is foul play. Someone must be held accountable," he said. In blogger Albert Ojwang case, he was arrested and died in police custody in Nairobi. Police initially claimed he died by suicide, banging his head against a wall-a story quickly unraveled by a post-mortem and IPOA's investigation. Police IG Douglas Kanja flanked by his two deputies - Gilbert Masengeli and Eliud Lagat - and IPOA officials first described Ojwang's injuries as self-inflicted, but later called it a "miscommunication." IPOA's inquiry found the police station's CCTV cameras had been deliberately disabled and footage was edited-an attempt to conceal what really happened. Inmates in nearby cells reported hearing Ojwang's screams. CCTV footage from Mbagathi Hospital showed police arriving with his body, contradicting claims he was alive on arrival. An officer alleged they were ordered to have inmates assault Ojwang on instructions from Deputy IG Lagat-who denied any involvement. Six people, including three police officers, were charged with murder. Activists called the case a cover-up that shielded senior commanders from accountability. The post-mortem found injuries consistent with torture-not suicide. In Nairobi's Mukuru slums in 2024, residents found six women's bodies in sacks at a disused quarry. Further searches revealed severed limbs and torsos-nine victims in total, all showing signs of torture. Most were women aged 18 to 30. Gruesome discovery The gruesome discovery sparked protests outside the local police station. Police arrested 33-year-old Collins Jomaisi Khalisia, who confessed to killing at least 42 women, including his wife, but escaped from custody. Human rights groups noted the quarry's proximity to a police post long suspected of being a dumping ground for protest victims. IPOA launched an inquiry into possible police negligence or complicity. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has confirmed at least 61 deaths, 361 injuries, 627 arbitrary arrests, 74 enforced disappearances, and 1,376 arrests of government critics. At Nairobi's City Mortuary, bodies of suspected protest victims pass through with minimal documentation. After one weekend of Gen Z anti-tax demonstrations, mortuary logs recorded seven to eight gunshot victims. For that month alone, 247 bodies were received-87 more than normal. Of these, 115 were initially listed as "unknown," with 60 still unclaimed. "They are dropped here by police and booked as accident and mob justice victims," said a mortuary attendant. "They don't want families to know. They don't want names." Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen, who toured the city on Monday after more than 11 people were killed in Saba Saba demos, said the police were doing a good job and thanked the officers. "The criminals who wreaked havoc on the June 25th demonstrations have already been charged," he said. Lawyers, families, and civil society groups say morgues have become part of the cover-up. Autopsies reviewed by The Standard reveal a pattern: entry wounds with no exit wounds, no recovered bullets, and death certificates citing "blunt force trauma" or "assault" instead of gunshots. In Juja, police dragged the body of a mechanic along the road after he was gunned down, sparking fears they intended to remove the projectile. "When the police find themselves in trouble, their seniors run away. They have to clear the mess," said an officer at DCI headquarters. Bodies are often released to grieving families with minimal paperwork-or none at all to frustrate investigations. Meanwhile, the morgue itself is overwhelmed. Designed for 184 bodies, it holds over 600. In June 2025, Nairobi County sought court approval to dispose of 120 unclaimed corpses within seven days. "It was a plan to dispose of most of the bodies, which were brought here under mysterious circumstances," said a mortuary worker. The death of 21-year-old Shaquille Rumsfeld Obienge is another example of these hidden killings. On July 16, 2024, police shot him at close range during protests in Kitengela. A government autopsy confirmed a neck wound from point-blank fire. Yet Nairobi City Mortuary recorded his death as a "road accident." "They wanted us to take the body and go," recalled his father, George Obienge. "No questions. No justice." Obienge believes his son was deliberately targeted. Livestream footage showed Shaquille naming the officer who had shot his friend Charles Owino. Witnesses said he knelt holding a flag before police chased him down and fired. Owino's death? Recorded as a road accident. Kepher Ouma? Mob justice. Denzel Omondi? Drowning. Between June and September 2024, only nine deaths were logged as gunshot wounds-while 94 were quietly reclassified. "They didn't even pretend to look for the bullet," said his mother, Teresia Achieng'. "They buried the truth with my son." Amnesty Kenya's Irungu Houghton calls this a "deliberate cover-up of police killings". IPOA has received complaints but prosecutions remain rare. Families say they're blocked from commissioning independent autopsies. Government pathologists often fail to recover bullets-key evidence that could link specific weapons to the crime. But George Obienge refuses to give up. "My son is a hero," he said. "I will fight for him until my last breath." Parallel to these disappearing bullets is the deployment of so-called "killer squads"-plainclothes teams drawn from the Anti-Terror Police Unit and DCI. "We have parallel units of officers answering to police bosses at Vigilance and they don't even take instructions from the bosses such as OCPDs, or OCS during operation," a top cop said. Intended to fight terrorism, they now appear at protests in unmarked cars, firing on crowds and abducting government critics. Our sources said the officers are answerable to their seniors at Vigilance House. "They operate from Nairobi area answering to a big boss somewhere," said one officer. Human rights groups and media have documented threats against families trying to report killings. One mother said she was warned: "If I opened my mouth, my other children might disappear too." Journalists covering protests have been beaten, arrested, robbed and had their equipment seized. In one 2024 incident, plainclothes officers dragged a photographer into a car after he documented a fatal police shooting on Tom Mboya Street. His camera was never returned.

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