Police officer Ahmed Rashid to be charged with murder over Eastleigh killings

Ahmed Rashid, the controversial police officer who was caught on video in March 2017 executing two Eastleigh-based suspected gangsters in broad daylight, is now facing a murder charge.

During the time of the incident, Rashid led the feared 'Pangani Six' unit, an alleged killer police squad operating in Eastleigh and Mathare slums linked to a number of extrajudicial police killings in the areas.

The corporal is set to take plea on December 8, 2022 after the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) obtained summoning orders from the Milimani High Court to have the officer appear in court.

"The Independent Policing Oversight Authority concluded the investigation into the deaths of Mr. Jamal Mohamed and Mr. Mohamed Dahir Kheri following a shooting which occurred at Easteigh, Nairobi County on March 31, 2017 and established that the fatalities were occasioned by police action," IPOA Chairperson Anne Makori said in a statement.

"Guided by Section 29(a) of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority Act, the findings were forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions with the recommendation to charge the Corporal Ahmed Rashid, with murder."

Ms. Makori added that the authority has gathered enough evidence to charge Rashid with murder after conducting thorough investigations into the death of the aforesaid men.

In an interview conducted by BBC Africa following the daylight execution of the two men, Rashid admitted to killing alleged criminals.

"We have to get them, whether alive or dead; that one doesn't have any compromise about it," Rashid told BBC Africa then.