A former OCS at Kayole Police Station failed to hold back his emotions after disclosing to the court that 13 police officers were gunned down by gangsters in the first three months of his tenure in the station.
Dennis Omunga, a Senior Superintendent of police at Kiganjo in Nyeri County was testifying before Justice Margaret Muigai in a case where six police officers were charged with murdering Wycliffe Owuor in alleged robbery.
While examined by the accused’s lawyers led by Danstan Omari and Stanley Kinyanjui, he told the court that the said offence took place on March 24, 2020, at Kayole Junction area in Embakasi, within Nairobi county.
It was after receiving a call from Chief Controller Nairobi Area who informed him about three men armed with a gun who were terrorizing the public at Kayole Junction in broad daylight.
“After the distress call, I immediately arranged for three groups of officers to rush to the scene and arrest the said robbers,” Omunga told the court.
He said that at about five minutes after the officers set off to the scene, he received a phone call from one of his officers informing him that they had engaged in a shootout with the three men and one of them was fatally injured; the other two escaped aboard a motorcycle while shooting at them.
He rushed to the scene and found the deceased on the ground, from him recovered a home-made gun and a kitchen knife. He also recovered an Identity card bearing the name Wycliff Owuor, a mobile phone and bank cards bearing the same name.
The case was taken by the DCI Kayole Police Station before it was later transferred to Internal Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) who after investigation recommended the six to be charged with murder.
The officer told Justice Muigai that during his time in the station, security had deteriorated and in a single day they would record a minimum of three robbery at gunpoint cases,
“Insecurity had deteriorated. Within a span of three months since I joined the station, we lost 13 police officers in the hands of gangsters and their guns taken away,” the officer said amid tears.
In an astonishing disclosure, the officer revealed that the deceased was a criminal involved in a series of robberies and had a pending case in Milimani Law court charged with breaking into the ATM escaping with Ksh 72 million.
He concluded by telling the court that the officers acted according to the orders and instructions he gave them.
The six Corporal Joseph Ojode Obambo, Constable Henry Mutai, Constable Bashir Ali, Constable Charles Kirimi, Inspector James Ngige and Corporal Vincet Odhiambo were charged with murdering Wycliff Owuor on May 24, 2020.
