THE CHAIRMAN
THE INDEPENDENT POLICE OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY
IPOA
Nairobi.
Sir,
RE: EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLING(S) BY POLICE OFFICERS AT KASARANI POLICE DIVISION – PETITION
We wish to bring to your attention public complaints by residents of the area covered by the Kasarani Police Division regarding killings committed by police officers stationed there.
On April 14th 2013 at around 17.00hrs, a police officer by the name Titus Masila who is attached to Kasarani Police Station confronted one Kenneth Mwangi, a footballer with Mathare United FC, over an alleged theft of a mobile phone at the Githurai bus stage. The officer pushed Mr. Mwangi to the ground and shot him fatally at point blank range three or four times to the jaw, throat and head. This incident was witnessed by several people who were at the scene. According to the eyewitnesses Mr. Mwangi was unarmed and did not offer any resistance whatsoever.
Further on 21st April 2013, the same officer using mobile phone number 0720 572 335 sent the following text messages to Mr. Mwangi’s sister:-
” I told you to keep of my phone, wewe ndio ulimtuma akaibe anakuleteanga, chunga hio kamdomo yako na usirudi kunitext. kuja hapa roundabout uniulize maswali, ata hauna aibu.useless !”
“We as government cannot & will never accept or pave the way for innocent people(kenyans) to be terrorised/robbed in our presence,keep off from my 4ne and follow the right procedure if you need to know more,whatever you have been updating in facebook is before the eyes of the government,it reflected your support in criminalogy of which is illegal and contrally to the laws of kenya,shame on you if you can support your brother to do robbery to people and to make the matter worse at day time,tell me which section of laws of kenya allows an individual to commit acrime?,go to the scene(githurai 45 bus stage) and inquire more about his whereabouts of the incident for verification of the truth,Have you ever been robbed?,do you know the pains of being robbed?,bear in mind that NO any security officer is mad to work against the original oath of performing in the field”
Mr. Mwangi’s killing is but the latest in a string of others allegedly carried out by a police killer squad which residents claim is based at the Kasarani Police Station or the Division. Besides PC Titus Masila alias “Kingei” or “Kakito” the police station also plays host to another policeman known by the nickname “Denno”. He is believed to have been involved in unlawful shootings in the Kondele area in Kisumu during the 2007/8 post-election violence. Denno is infamous in the area for killing suspects in cold blood and is believed to be a key member of the Kasarani-based police killer squad. Other members of the said death squad, known by single names are:- Marel, Maiyo, Fielo and Mutisya.
We deeply disturbed by the level of impunity exhibited by the Police and in particular the continuation of the activities of death squads within the Kenya Police Service three years into the reforming constitution of 2010. While great strides have been made in creating the necessary legislation to reform the police, there is little reflection of this on the ground and police continue to engage in unlawful killings as reports from various parts of the country indicate. It is perturbing that Kasarani Police Station, which has in the past gained this notoriety, in particular still hosts a police death squad if the complaints of the residents are to be believed. Chilling stories are told of the gang-ho attitudes of the police officers who callously forewarn their victims or their families of their intentions before they execute them.
We are hereby calling for an investigation and necessary action by your authority as per your legal mandate with a view of bringing the culprits to book and eradicating this menace. Unless this is done the police will continue to be viewed as enemies rather than friendly public servants who the residents should go to for their security and cooperate with in their work of combating crime and maintaining law and order. Needless to say, this yields more insecurity.
We also urge IPOA to publicize its procedures of receiving public complaints and further ask you to reiterate that extra-judicial killings by the police will not be condoned and will indeed be fought off as strongly as possible. A demonstration of your taking action on such complaints is critical at this juncture for a public long dismayed by such vices to believe in the much-talked-of reforms and lend their support. Kindly acknowledge receipt of this petition.
Yours sincerely,
Al-Amin Kimathi
Chair
Muslim Human Rights Forum
Odhiambo Oyoko
Executive Co-ordinator
Rights Promotion and Protection Centre
Stella V. W. Mwangi 
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