Four police officers from unit disbanded by President Ruto arrested

Chief Inspector Peter Muthee, Corporal Joseph Mbugua, Corporal Francis Ndonye and Corporal John Kamau were arrested and will likely be arraigned on charges of abuse of office, conspiracy to commit a felony and kidnapping. 

Chief Inspector Peter Muthee is held at Kileleshwa Police Station, Corporal Joseph Mbugua is in custody at Capital Hill Police Station, Corporal Francis Ndonye and Corporal John Kamau are both at Kilimani Police station.

The four were among 21 officers who were questioned at the Internal Affairs Unit  of the National Police Service on Friday. 

Their lawyer Danstan Omari is however reading malice into the charges brought against them.

"The framing of the holding of the OB is not specific to who they abducted, to who they were doing the felony to, to who they abused the office over. If investigations were clear they could have been clear about what offence they did on which date to who they did that offence," says Omari.

The lawyer claims the four officers are being victimised for refusing to give false information in the ongoing probe into the disappearance of two Indians Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan, Mohamed Zaid Kidwai and Kenyan taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania.

"My clients are saying that they were not part of the arrest, of the disappearance or of the torture or killing of those two foreigners the only issue is that their vehicles, two Subaru vehicles were on Mombasa road and in the nature of their job this vehicle operates everywhere in this country. They were being promised that if they frame people they will be put under witness protection... my client refused, they insisted that they have not committed any crime," added Omari.

Lawyer Omari says that the four police officers have been denied cash bail and will remain in police custody until they are arraigned in court on Monday.

Meanwhile detectives investigating the case are expected to undertake a forensic analysis of the remains and personal belongings found during a search at the Aberdares forest to establish whether they belong to the three people believed to have been abducted along Mombasa Road in Nairobi.

Acting Police Inspector General Noor Gabow on Friday directed  the speeding up of investigations into misconduct by police officers. 

His announcement came a day after the President ordered a probe into the same. The Police IG also reviewed an appointment to the Director Internal Affairs over considerations informed by developments at the directorate of criminal investigations.