10 GSU Cops Arrested To Be Charged With Murder

10 General Service Unit (GSU) officers were arrested in connection to the infamous fatal shootings at Masimba, Kajiado County in June 2022, following an investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).

Four people died while six others sustained serious injuries when the officers opened fire at demonstrators on the Nairobi – Mombasa Highway.

The victims were part of demonstrators who had thronged the busy highway to protest the invasion of their farms by elephants during which a teacher died after he was trampled on by the marauding jumbos.

IPOA launched investigations into the incident which was widely reported across the country.

Section 6 of the IPOA Act allows the Authority to “investigate any complaints related to disciplinary or criminal offences committed by any member of the Service, whether on its own motion or on receipt of a complaint and make recommendations to the relevant authorities, including recommendations for prosecution compensation, internal disciplinary action or any other appropriate relief.”

Nine officers were held at Kibra police station, Nairobi, pending the arraignment. The arrests were effected following a directive by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Noordin Haji.

“The totality of evidence on record suggests that the GSU officers were culpable for the offence of murder contrary to section 203 as read with 204 of the penal code. Additionally, the officers are culpable for causing grievous harm contrary to section 234 of the penal code,” Haji noted.

“We concur with the Authority that the use of force by the GSU officers against the demonstrators was not only unlawful but was also unjustified. Therefore, we direct that the officers be charged accordingly.”

The investigation established that GSU officers attached to the M Company had escorted a cargo belonging to De La Rue Company from Mombasa to Nairobi on June 1, 2022.

On the fateful day, the officers were travelling back to their base in Mombasa when they encountered the demonstrators.

The investigation further revealed that the officers, who were travelling in two Landcruisers, fired a total of forty (40) rounds of ammunition, before making it through barricades and driving off to Mombasa.

Seventeen (17) spent cartridges were collocated at the scene. Post-mortem examinations showed that each of the fatalities was caused by a single bullet wound; a bullet head and bullet fragments were retrieved from the bodies during the autopsy.

IPOA chairperson, Anne Makori. /FILE