Why Detained Killer Officers Must Be Given Maximum Protection.

DCI Muhoro, Head of Flying Squad John Kariuki when they appeared before the court on Tuesday

The murder of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri by suspected police officers has in the past days clutched not only local headlines but also international attention. Human rights bodies led by the supreme UN have come out in full gear to condemn the brutal murder of the three.

In a quick progress, four officers suspected to have been behind the killings have been held behind bars for days now as investigations continue. The officers suspected of carrying out the killings are Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku.

According to autopsy results, the victims were painfully tortured before being killed. Uniformly, they were hit with blunt objects with the most impact to their heads and chest. According to the report, lawyer Willie’s testicles were crushed, showing extreme pain they endured in their last moments.

Traditionally, such high-profile executions are expected of the elite unit of police like the flying squad. However, the killing of the three is being blamed on the perceived inferior Administration Police, which brings to focus a new face of the AP. The Parliamentary Security Committee is envisioning disbanding the unit and merging it with the Kenya Police following constant complaints on their rogue inclinations.

When the news of Fredrick Leliman’s arrest reached Mlolongo residents, they went in a celebratory mood. According to a resident talking to me on anonymity conditions, the officer known by the nickname Maasai, is a dreaded figure in the locality. The officer, according to my source, is known for ruthless eliminations. “He is ruthless and fears no one, and he kills at will. He has killed so many young men here, and nobody dares to raise a voice. If you try, he comes for you.”

Another credible source tells me the dreaded officer in the month of June alone has executed over 25 young men in Mlolongo area where he is stationed. Most of these men are either suspected criminals or in some cases feigned. A good number of complaints about him are being processed according to my source at IPOA.

Leliman’s latest victim is a woman currently nursing gunshot wounds at Kenyatta National Hospital. She, in a company of another woman who unfortunately succumbed, were passersby and witnessed an execution. The trigger happy Maasai pulled the trigger on the women.
The three suspects operate as a team, according to reports, with their female counterpart Silvia Wanjiku being their designated driver in any of their operations. They are stationed in the same camp.

The suspected officers; Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku appeared at the Milimani Law courts on Monday

If these signs are anything to go by, then the suspects hold crucial information on extra-judicial killings which would easily implicate their seniors. In most extra-judicial executions, a source who requested anonymity for security reasons, tells me that junior officers must get the green light from the top brass before carrying out a killing.

With FBI now handling the case, the senior officers who issued out instructions for the executions and had dirt on their hands must be very scared. Being a devil’s market, to protect themselves and avoid falling into FBI net, one can get to the detained officers to silence them before they spill any bean.

If the FBI investigations focus on the larger dragnet of extrajudicial killings, then the suspects are technically witnesses who are crucial to the investigations, and we know what happens to witnesses in this country.

Extra-judicial killings have robbed the country of great people and if the lawyer’s case is going to be the breaking point then let it be, let mountains shake and the Eskimos sweat if that’s what it will take. Keep these officers safe, and they’re the asset to the prosecution which needs to do excellent investigations and unravel the mystery murders and let Willie Kimani and his compatriots be the last victims of rogue officers.

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