Former Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Fred Matiang’i on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, shed light on the death of Baby Samantha Pendo, who was killed by police officers during a protest in 2017 in Nyalenda slums in Kisumu County.
Speaking during an interview, Matiang’i stated that where police officers have been found to have committed crimes, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“I remember in the case for Baby Pendo in Kisumu, the relationship between IPOA and the police service is usually not the best for obvious reasons, but we mediated as government and said we would like to support the investigation in the matter because it had gotten beyond what is supposed to be done,” Matiang’i said.
Accepting mistakes
“Are we standing up to accept when wrongs have been done? The answer is yes; wrongs can be done anywhere, for instance, in the teaching, medical or legal profession. Where officers have committed a crime, they need to face the law as it is,” he noted.
Baby Samantha Pendo, a mere six-month-old infant, tragically succumbed to severe head injuries inflicted by police officers during a door-to-door operation in Kisumu’s Nyalenda slum in August 2017.
Protracted court case
Her parents recounted how armed police stormed their home, throwing tear gas and assaulting family members. It was during this chaotic and brutal raid that Baby Pendo sustained the fatal blow, becoming an innocent victim in the post-election unrest that gripped parts of the country.
Despite the significant progress in bringing the case to court, human rights organizations have expressed concern over the recent withdrawal of charges against eight of the initial twelve suspects.
Four police officers were charged in May 2025 with the death of the infant, bringing some hope to the family that justice would be served eight years after the tragic incident.
While a public inquest into the matter found the police culpable in the death of the six-month-old baby, the four officers have pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them of murder and torture.
