Rex Masai inquest closed after DPP calls 30 witnesses
Crime and Justice
By
Nancy Gitonga
| Sep 07, 2026
The inquest into the killing of Rex Masai during the 2024 Gen Z protests has been formally closed after the Director of Public Prosecutions called 30 witnesses and placed before the court photographs and video footage documenting events surrounding the fatal shooting.
The closure came more than two years after Masai was shot dead in Nairobi’s Central Business District during Gen Z protests on June 20, 2024.
The prosecution, through State Counsel Jalson Makori informed Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo that it had completed calling its witnesses, marking the end of the evidentiary phase of the inquest.
Among the final pieces of evidence presented was a forensic examination of a key video recorded by Dandora-based community human rights defender Brian James Omondi, alias Alaman, showing a plain-clothes officer along Mama Ngina Street firing twice at fleeing protesters, footage that investigators said was relevant to the circumstances surrounding Masai’s death.
The footage by Omondi, the court heard, was subjected to forensic examination after an eight-gigabyte silver flash disk marked “JO” was received at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) forensic laboratory on July 31, 2026.
The forensic expert Joshua Mutua, who testified as the last witness, told the court that he received the flash disk from the investigating officer Justin Matete and signed the exhibit memo before previewing its contents.
The footage was labelled Video 06:20-1918.2 and was examined using a forensic tool identified in court as Cognitech Forensic Investigator.
According to the expert, the footage was internally consistent in its temporal sequence and visual continuity.
It was recorded on June 20, 2024, commencing at about 7.18 pm, and was approximately one minute long.
The expert further told the court that no technical indications of intentional insertion or deletion, duplication or rearrangement of the video content were identified during the examination.
He subsequently prepared a forensic report and certificate, which he sought to produce as evidence in the inquest.
The flash disk was admitted as Exhibit 46, while the forensic report was marked Exhibit 46A and the accompanying certificate Exhibit 46C.
The forensic evidence is significant because the prosecution has previously relied on video and photographic material in its investigation into the circumstances surrounding Masai’s death.
The case has centred on the events of June 20, 2024, when Masai was fatally shot during protests against the Finance Bill, 2024.
The court heard that the footage captured events involving a plain-clothes officer and protestors.
The evidence, however, remains subject to the magistrate’s eventual determination after considering all the evidence and submissions by the parties.
The latest witness testified on September 2, 2026, when activist Omondi was called to explain aspects of how the footage had been obtained and processed.
Neither IPOA nor the Masai family raised questions on the forensic witness’s testimony.
However, Masai’s family, represented by lawyer David Mwangi, said they had accepted the closure of the inquest and now leave the matter in the hands of the court to deliver justice.
“We had indicated that we need more time, but we do not oppose the closure. We leave the matter to the court to determine and deliver justice, not only for Rex Masai but also for the many other people who have lost their lives at the hands of the State,” Chege said.
After considering the submissions of the parties, Magistrate Onsarigo formally closed the inquest.
“I have taken into account the submissions by the parties and I mark the inquest closed,” the magistrate ruled.
The court directed the prosecution to confirm the typed proceedings before directions are given on the filing of submissions.
The matter will be mentioned virtually on September 24, 2026, at 11.30 am, when the court is expected to issue directions on the filing of submissions ahead of its ruling.
The closure brings to an end the calling of witnesses in an inquest that has sought to establish what happened to Masai during the protests and whether anyone should bear responsibility for his death.
The magistrate’s eventual ruling will determine the court’s findings after considering the testimony of the 30 witnesses, the photographic evidence and the video footage placed before it.