I didn't seize women, probe told

I didn't seize women, police chief tells Kaiser probe Story by NATION Reporter Publication Date: 01/25/2006

An assistant commissioner of police yesterday denied forcibly removing two young women from the custody of a lobby group which had given them refuge from alleged sexual harassment. The women, Ann Sowayo and Florence Mpayei, willingly left the premises owned by the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (Fida) after being persuaded by their mothers, Mr Skewer Mbogo told the inquest into the death of Catholic priest John Antony Kaiser. They were later returned to their Trans Mara home, Mr Mbogo said of the September 5, 1999, incident. Earlier that day, he said, the mothers of the two women went to his office at Kilimani police station in the company of a councillor and informed him that the women were being held by Fida against their will after leaving home two months earlier. "They requested me to rescue their daughters from the place where they were being held against their will," Mr Mbogo told inquest magistrate Maureen Odero. However, when the team arrived at the Fida staff house in Ngumo estate, they found the young women comfortable and there were no signs that they were prevented from leaving, Mr Mbogo said. The two took on their parents demanding to know why they had reported the matter to the police. This confirmed to him that the parents and the civic leader had given him misleading reports. Mr Mbogo, who was being questioned by State counsel James Mungai and the lawyer for the Catholic Church, Mr Mbuthi Gathenji, denied that he was under orders to remove the two young women from Fida custody. Fr Kaiser was found dead at the Morendant junction on the Nakuru-Naivasha highway on the morning of August 24, 2000. His head had been blown off and a shotgun lay nearby. The hearing continues this afternoon.

CID talks

I can account for my trip, CID man tells Kaiser probe
Story by MARK AGUTU
Publication Date: 01/26/2006

A senior CID officer yesterday pledged to account for his movements weeks before Catholic priest John Kaiser was found dead.

Assistant commissioner of police Francis Njiru said he would table before an inquest into the priest's death details about his travel to Rift Valley Province. The priest was found dead near Naivasha Town.

Answering questions from State counsel James Mungai and later Catholic Church lawyer Mbuthi Gathenji, the officer denied any involvement in the death of Fr Kaiser.

"That is a total lie," he said in response to a question by Mr Mungai, who informed him that a witness had linked him to the murder.

He told Nairobi magistrate Maureen Odero: "I didn't, repeat, didn't kill him. I never knew him until his death was reported in the daily newspapers."

He promised to bring work tickets and imprest forms to show exactly when a crack unit he had led to Rumuruti in Laikipia reported back to their base in Nairobi in early August.

His team of between eight and 10 officers had travelled to Rumuruti on the instructions of CID boss Francis Sang to combat carjackers in the area.

And after the operation, in which a few people were arrested, the team passed through Nakuru Town where they reported to the provincial police headquarters before returning to Nairobi.

But asked whether he had records showing when the team came back, Mr Njiru said he could produce work tickets and imprests which bear details of payments to confirm the day of return.

The priest was found dead near the Morendat junction on the Naivasha-Nakuru road on the morning of August 24, 2000, with is head blown off and a shotgun lying nearby.

The hearing continues tomorrow afternoon.

Police chief speaks

I didn't seize women, police chief tells Kaiser probe Story by NATION Reporter Publication Date: 01/25/2006

An assistant commissioner of police yesterday denied forcibly removing two young women from the custody of a lobby group which had given them refuge from alleged sexual harassment. The women, Ann Sowayo and Florence Mpayei, willingly left the premises owned by the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (Fida) after being persuaded by their mothers, Mr Skewer Mbogo told the inquest into the death of Catholic priest John Antony Kaiser. They were later returned to their Trans Mara home, Mr Mbogo said of the September 5, 1999, incident. Earlier that day, he said, the mothers of the two women went to his office at Kilimani police station in the company of a councillor and informed him that the women were being held by Fida against their will after leaving home two months earlier. "They requested me to rescue their daughters from the place where they were being held against their will," Mr Mbogo told inquest magistrate Maureen Odero. However, when the team arrived at the Fida staff house in Ngumo estate, they found the young women comfortable and there were no signs that they were prevented from leaving, Mr Mbogo said. The two took on their parents demanding to know why they had reported the matter to the police. This confirmed to him that the parents and the civic leader had given him misleading reports. Mr Mbogo, who was being questioned by State counsel James Mungai and the lawyer for the Catholic Church, Mr Mbuthi Gathenji, denied that he was under orders to remove the two young women from Fida custody. Fr Kaiser was found dead at the Morendant junction on the Nakuru-Naivasha highway on the morning of August 24, 2000. His head had been blown off and a shotgun lay nearby. The hearing continues this afternoon.

"I had no role"

I Had No Role in Kaiser's Death, Says CID Officer

The Nation (Nairobi)

January 24, 2006

Nairobi -- A senior CID officer yesterday denied having a role in the disappearance and death of Catholic priest John Anthony Kaiser.

Acting superintendent of police Julius Kikwai ole Sunkuli expressed shock at the allegation that witnesses had linked him to the killing.

"I am really shocked to hear that," said Mr Kikwai, a cousin of former Cabinet minister Julius ole Sunkuli.

"It's a lie; I have never been associated with the matter at all."

The officer said he was in his house at Langata estate in Nairobi with his family on the night of August 23/24, 2000 when the priest was found dead near Naivasha.

Fr Kaiser's body was found at the Morendant junction, on the Nakuru-Naivasha road, with his head blown off.

His firearm lay by the body.

At the time of his death, he was the priest in charge of the Lolgorian parish of the Ngong Catholic diocese.

Mr Kikwai was at that time the deputy CID boss of Embakasi, Nairobi.

He has since been transferred to Trans-Nzoia District to take charge of a division.

The officer was answering questions from state counsel James Mungai and lawyer Mbuthi Gathenji, for the Catholic church, during the hearing of the death inquest by Nairobi magistrate Maureen Odero.

Mr Gathenji told the officer that a witness had linked him to a plot to murder the priest.

But Mr Kikwai said he was nowhere near Ngong where the priest was based, or Naivasha where his body was found.

He also denied knowledge of the involvement of police, especially the flying squad, in the plot as claimed by Mr Gathenji.

The CID officer said he had also recorded a statement with American agents, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, who had joined Kenyan police in investigating the killing.

He was not aware that he had been implicated in the priest's death, he said.

Who is safe?

With all these killings, who is safe today?

Story by STEPHEN MUIRURI CRIME EDITOR
Publication Date: 1/14/2006

A string of high-profile murders remains unsolved – some stretching back for more than 30 years; some as recent as New Year's Eve – making people fear for their safety as never before.

Many husbands, wives, businessmen and women believe they are at risk from hired hit squads in the streets and in the sanctity of their own homes.

Some fear even to answer a knock at their own front door.

For bloodthirsty killers have shattered the lives of families across the nation – yet the police appear powerless to track them down and force them to face justice in court.

All the unsolved murders have one thing in common ... they were apparently executions carried out in cold blood by gangland hit squads – killers for hire.

Some of these killings took place more than 30 years ago yet remain unsolved. Others are as recent as December 31, when Mombasa Port police chief Hassan Ahmed Abdillahi was shot dead outside his own home.

Other recent unsolved murders include the killing of the lecturer and Bomas delegate Prof. Crispin Mbai – shot dead in front of his own hearth – while unsolved high profile murders from yesteryear include the assassination of politician Tom Mboya in 1969, MP J. M. Kariuki in 1975, and former Foreign minister Robert Ouko in 1990.

Even the police themselves do not know exactly how many unsolved murders are on their books, although they admit they run into the hundreds.

CID director Joseph Kamau said yesterday that the number of unsolved murders was "worrying", but added he was "pleased" with the way his officers were carrying out their investigations.

And he revealed: "We have formed a Homicide Unit based at CID headquarters and their job is to specialise in murder investigations."

Mr Kamau added: "We have been sending the officers to every corner of the country to help local officers to track down killers. We are a bit overwhelmed but more officers will be deployed to the Homicide Unit."

He said the unit had highly-trained investigators, most of whom were young and had just completed their intensive training.

Mr Kamau continued: "The CID is capable of handling the murder cases. We are going to pump more resources into the Homicide Unit."

Police could only know the motive for each murder after investigations were complete.

The hit squad killings were "isolated incidents which should not be linked to each other," he said.

Apart from new murders, the Homicide Unit had also taken up old cases which have remained unresolved.

His comments came as statistics released by police commissioner Mohamed Hussein Ali showed the number of murder cases nationwide had actually declined slightly in the past two years.

Police records showed 1,320 people were killed in 2004 compared to 1,153 between January and November last year.

A number of murder and other capital offence trials were thrown out by the courts last year after magistrates and judges accused the police of conducting shoddy investigations.

For their part, police think they had done their job well and blame corrupt judicial officers for wrecking their cases.

The killing of Mombasa Port CID chief Hassan Ahmed Abdillahi was just the latest in a string of hit squad murders at the Coast.

At least five tycoons had been killed earlier by what police believe were hired killers.

All the unresolved murders have a common pattern – the victim was attacked by gunmen who shot either at the head or the chest, then they were left to die as their attackers fled without stealing anything.

Those killed in puzzling circumstances included a real estate tycoon, Mr Visram Mulji Patel (killed in December), another real estate expert Mr Sammy Kithikii (killed mid-May last year), 28-year old businessman Timothy Karanja Wainaina (killed last May 3), Mr Pankaj Shah (killed on February 5, ) and 33-year-old businessman Abdurahman Sheikh Mohammed Noor (killed on March 12, 2005).

The rate of killings is stretching police resources to breaking point.

A new murder is being committed almost every day in a different part of the country before the police can solve the one they were investigating.

Even though Mr Kamau sent two high-powered teams from Nairobi to the Coast to help investigate Mr Abdillahi's killers, the hitmen are still at large.

The team from Nairobi was made up of officers from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit and the Homicide Unit attached to CID headquarters. They have teamed up with their Mombasa counterparts.

Mr Kamau was quoted saying he suspected the Mombasa Port CID chief was killed because of investigations at the port into a containers theft racket and drugs smuggling.

At the time he was killed on December 31, he had intensified a crackdown on the theft of containers at the port in which many people – including police officers, clearing and forwarding agents and Kenya Ports Authority workers – were arrested and charged.

Although his killers used the car the port CID chief was driving to escape from the scene, they did not take his loaded gun and cash

At least nine suspects, including four brothers of Juja MP William Kabogo, are being held by police investigating the murder.

Detectives say people hire hitmen for various reasons. Police spokesman Jasper Ombati said the motive for executions was usually revenge, infidelity, business rivalry or other family disputes.

Investigating hit squad murders was complicated by the fact that killers and their financiers often left no clues.

People more likely to hire hitmen were business rivals, siblings fighting for family properly, jilted lovers or spouses who want to get rid of their partners because of infidelity or property disputes, political rivals and those who have been swindled and want revenge.

Detectives who spoke to the Nation said hit squad murders were usually arranged by somebody close to the victim.

In most cases, the motive was purely to kill and nothing was stolen.

But the cases became complicated when the killers stage-managed the attack to make it look like a robbery.

Other executions were plotted by close family members.

Killings which have remained unsolved for years include the murder of one of Kenya's leading criminal lawyers, Mr S.K. Ndungi, and a top military intelligence officer, Lt Col Augustine Kunyiha.

Human rights organisations say Mr Ndungi was shot dead by the police on April 22, 1997, on Moi Avenue, Nairobi, because of his work on the case of an armed robbery at Standard Chartered Bank.

He was representing some of the suspects in court and he accused Flying Squad detectives of having kept for themselves part of the money they recovered from the gang.

Lt Col Kunyiha was shot dead in broad daylight in the heart of the capital – on Kimathi Street opposite Nation Centre – on December 30, 1994.

The gunman were said to be been trailing the soldier's car and they demanded a parcel which was in his vehicle before they shot him.

The killers of both Mr Ndungi and Lt Col Kunyiha are still at large.

The killing of CID Superintendent Bernard Kahumbi, which had political undertones, also remains unresolved 11 years since he was executed by what was believed to be a police hit squad.

He was shot dead in May 1995 after he led a highly publicised but unsuccessful police search for Mr Njehu Gatabaki, the editor of Finance magazine and a former MP for Githunguri.

The day Mr Gatabaki surrendered to police Mr Kahumbi was found dead with a gun shot wound near a Nairobi slum.

The then Opposition MPs – who are now serving in the Kibaki administration – claimed the detective was killed by the state because he had failed to arrest Mr Gatabaki.

Government officials denied the charge, linking the murder to the Opposition. Two men were arrested and charged with Mr Kahumbi's murder but nothing was published about their trials.

Another unresolved murder which had political links was that of former Githurai ward councillor Charles Maina Wanjuguna.

A gang burst into his home on the night of June 10-11, 2000 and hammered a nail into his head before they slit his throat, in full view of his wife and children.

Mr Wanjuguna was killed at the height of a campaign for the Ruiru mayoral seat. He had expressed fears for his life.

During the trial of no fewer than 13 people who were arrested over the murder, witnesses told the court how a hit squad was hired by Mr Wanjuguna's political rivals because he was the frontrunner in the campaign.

Murky underworld of hired killers

Murky underworld of professional killers for hire Story by FRED MUKINDA and MBURU MWANGI Publication Date: 1/14/2006

Police believe it's easy for anyone with a motive to have another killed. Most people know the criminals among them; and the criminals are often the first contacts for neighbours desperate to settle scores. "They are the links between ordinary citizens and the complicated underworld of professional killers," CID public relations officer Gideon Kibunjah told the Nation on telephone yesterday. Usually for a small fee, they introduce a person to a hit man, who in turn depends on the village criminal to determine if the "customer" can be trusted. Informers often pose as clients to help police reach deeper into the world of crime. They are spared prosecution or have their punishment lessened on condition that they remain informers and keep away from crime. They are a big worry for hit men, who now avoid contact with any potential client unless recommended by intermediaries. But once the link is established, they demand a down payment. Usually they prove themselves capable of carrying out the task by showing the "customer" a gun. They then ask for details of the target, including economic status, prominence and vulnerability. These help criminals to understand the risk, and to fix their charges. At this stage, the hit man can still reject or take up the assignment. Finally, both parties agree on how the execution is to be carried out so that it masks the motive. Crime experts agree that some criminals make a living by executing others. Most work for anybody, so long as the money is good, and chances of being caught slim. Those hiring hit men are always cautious not to be double-crossed. They demand proof of the killing before making full payment. After getting a down-payment and details of the target and where they are commonly found, the hit men then work on the plan of trailing and trapping the target. Detectives are generally agreed that a murder without a motive is the most difficult to crack. They are convinced that putting a finger on the motive – the reason or excuse that leads one to do evil – is the key to resolving the puzzle. Knowing the motive opens the doors wide, not only to the killers' hideouts, but also to their prison cells, because a conviction is almost assured. But professional killers are known to cover their tracks and those of their paymasters by masking their link through creating many motives, including robbery, carjackings or business rivalry. A former police investigator told of a case which everybody believed was suicide until a postmortem examination revealed otherwise. The man had been strangled. He said he also handled cases that at a glance are believed to be road accidents until further investigations reveal something different. Pursuing the wrong motive is frustrating for detectives. If the wrong suspects are pursued, the detectives waste time gathering evidence, assembling witnesses and seeking conviction. By the time they realise they are on the wrong track, most evidence will have been wiped out. In the case of Nairobi University lecturer and delegate to the Constitutional Conference at Bomas, Dr Crispin Mbai, the pressure mounting on the detectives was to investigate the political motive. However, a detective based at the Kilimani police station said that motive led nowhere. Later, they concentrated on robbery as the main motive. "Although there was no conviction, the case flopped on a technicality, and I'm convinced the former lecturer was killed in a bungled robbery," he said. Controversy still surrounds the August 2000 death of Catholic priest John Anthony Kaiser. The widely-held belief was that Fr Kaiser's was an assassination due to his political bent. On investigations, the police – assisted by America's Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) – deduced the priest had committed suicide. The political motive was far more appealing to the public who could not believe it could have been suicide. An inquest is still in progress. Another police investigator based in Eldoret said an obvious hint that hit men are involved is when nothing is stolen from the victim, or when they undergo prolonged questioning or torture. In other cases, the hint comes through an ominous phone call, letter or emissary. "If a gun is used, most victims are shot at point-blank range. This and the evidence of non-resistance lead police to classify such a killing as an execution," he added. Again, the brute force used, like pumping many bullets into victims or slashing them many times may point to an execution. "It is like they want to tell the world: 'We were not only out to kill this man, we were out to teach him a good lesson and let the world know it all'," said a top detective. These are the kind of hit men who, whether they use a gun or other weapons, show their fury by performing gory, bizarre and spine-chilling things on the body like dismembering it, gouging out the eyes, slicing out the ears or beheading. Others extract toes and fingernails or drive in nails into the head of their victim to inflict maximum pain before death. Police say confessions by some hit men reveal either elaborate plans and bungled ones. Their pay depends on their professionalism and the targets involved. "We have heard of cases where some hit men get only Sh10,000 while others are paid millions to accomplish a mission," said the policeman. The daring ones are those seemingly shielded from the law. These, however, are not just mere hit men, but accomplished assassins. In this league are the killers of politicians Tom Mboya in 1969, J.M. Kariuki in 1975 and Robert Ouko in 1990. In these cases, top officials in government and the police are, more often than not, involved. Some hit men do not seem to worry about the setting, especially if the message is meant to echo loud to the victim's friends and neighbours. In fact, most seem to relish the publicity they get, and will smoke out their victim even from the most public place. A case in point is that of top military intelligence officer, Lt Col Augustine Kunyiha, who was shot dead by four hit men opposite Nation Centre on December 30, 1994, as he waited for a friend at about 6pm. They engaged him in an argument before grabbing his gun and shooting him four times in the head and chest. As they shot him, they shouted at him: "Toa hiyo kitu (bring that thing)". They are said to have retrieved a package from his car and fled in theirs as the crowd watched. The case never went anywhere. A few metres from the spot, Nairobi councillor S.M. Maina was shot by a gang that was out to get his life. He died a year later in London where he was taken for specialised treatment. The motive was widely linked to his anti-corruption crusade at City Hall, but no suspect was ever arrested. Still in the city centre, a lawyer representing suspects in a Sh96 million heist from the Standard Charted Bank, Moi Avenue, Mr Samuel Ndungi, was shot dead as he came out of a cafe on Moi Avenue opposite Jeevanjee Gardens on April 22, 1997. He had claimed he had been summoned by a top police officer who, he said, told him in no uncertain terms that he was not amused by his role. Other cases of gangland style executions include that of a Ngong lawyer and human rights activist Elijah Marima Sempeta, who was sprayed with bullets as he parked his vehicle in his compound in March, last year. The motive was suspected to be his role in some controversial ranches. More recently, senior roads engineer Francis Moindi Nyaega was killed in the same area. Former Kilome MP Tony Ndilinge too, is believed to have been executed, although no suspect has ever been convicted. Mr Ndilinge was found murdered in Githurai, Nairobi, in August 2001. In February last year, a suspected hit squad shot Mr Pankaj Shah dead in Mombasa as he drove into town centre for dinner with his wife.

Being pushy works

After corresponding with my Senators, providing them with the written documentation they required, I had to bug them again regarding requesting the FBI to testify in the Kenyan inquest.

Apparently, if you bug people enough, they start to listen. John knew that and paid the ultimate price for it. While I don't have the same threat, the powers that be are starting to listen to my squeaky wheel.

And that's what it takes: making noise. Writing congresspeople, calling them, emailing them. They don't listen at first (usually) but if you make enough noise, they will. They are our public servants, put into their positions by us. They have to answer to us.

So make them earn their money by responding to your requests to act on the behalf of a man who always put others first. Start calling. Start writing. Start emailing. And don't stop until you get the response you deserve.

I know I won't.