FEATURED STORY

Three Police Officers, 1 Informer Found Guilty of Killing Willie Kimani, 2 Others

MARTIN SIELEJul 22, 2022637

The officers had denied killing Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri on the night of June 23, 2016. [Photo/ KHRC]

3 Administration Police (AP) officers and one police informer were on Friday, April 22 found guilty of the murders of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.

The suspects arraigned in court- Sylvia Wanjohi, Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Leonard Mwangi and Peter Ngugi – had denied killing Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri on the night of June 23, 2016.

The other accused person, Sergeant Leonard Mwangi has been acquitted of all charges. Justice Jessie Lessit described the hearings as the longest she had presided over in her career as a Judge.

The bodies of the three victims were found in a river in Ol Donyo Sabuk on June 30, 2016. They had disappeared a week earlier and were last seen at Syokimau Police Station.

Working on behalf of the International Justice Mission (IJM), an international NGO that helps the vulnerable get justice, Kimani was representing his client Mwenda in a case against an officer. Mwenda had filed a complaint against Fredrick Leliman at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).

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He filed the case after being stopped by the police officer, who reportedly accidentally shot him in the hand. Three days later, Mwenda was charged with three counts – drug possession, gambling and resisting arrest.

On the night of December 14, 2015, Mwenda was abducted from his home at night by Leliman and other police officers. A day later, he was charged with six additional counts of traffic violations.

On June 23, 2016, after IJM had officially taken on the case, Kimani, Mwenda and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were abducted after leaving court following a hearing on the traffic violation charges. The three were held in a police container at the station without being booked.

The killings fueled widespread uproar on extra-judicial killings as calls grew for police reforms. The legal fraternity in particular amplified the push for action against extra-judicial killings and rogue police officers. A class-action suit was in 2019 filed by IJM and 22 victims of extrajudicial killings and disappearances.