Contradictory statements emerged during the late activist Rex Masai’s inquest after the former Nairobi Central Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) refuted claims that officers were deployed and took instructions from the head office.
In a previous hearing, the former Central Police Station OCS, Moses Mutai Shikuku, told the court that during the anti-finance bill demonstrations in June 2024, some plainclothes officers had been deployed and were taking instructions from senior officials.
Appearing before Milimani Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo on June 9, 2025, OCS Shikuku told the court that despite being the Commander of Central Police Station at the time, some plainclothes officers had been deployed directly from the division.
“All officers under Central Police Station were under my command, but there were civilian clothes officers who were coordinated from the division,” OCS Shikuku told the court.
However, the ex-OCS did not specify who exactly was deploying and instructing the plainclothes officers from the division.
Magistrate Onsarigo re-called former Central Sub-County Commander Mugambi—who had previously testified in the inquest—to shed more light on Shikuku’s claims that some officers were receiving orders from above.
In her response before the court on Thursday, June 19, 2025, the former Sub-County Commander said that none of the officers received orders from the head office during the demonstrations.
She further stated that as the OCPD, her mandate did not include officer deployment, noting that this responsibility lay with the OCSs of Central, Kamukunji, Ngara, KICC, and Parliament Police Stations, based on their geographical jurisdiction.
“On that particular day, every OCS was to take care of their area of jurisdiction within Nairobi Central Sub-County, and I was not directly in charge of any junior officer,” ex-Central OCPD Mugambi told the court.
Additionally, Officer Mugambi stated that if the official deployment register for that day were available, it would be easy to determine who had been deployed to the area where the incident occurred.
She emphasised the importance of identifying the exact location where the deceased was killed, as that would help determine if someone else in the area may have been armed.
She also pointed out that police do not have a monopoly on firearms, as some civilians are licensed firearm holders. Knowing the exact scene of the shooting, she said, would help determine whether a non-police individual could have fired the live round.
“If it is possible to know the primary scene where it happened, we can also be able to know whether at that particular time there was any other person—maybe, for example, a licensed firearm holder—within that area,” ex-OCPD Mugambi told the court.
She also informed the court that no report of live ammunition use was made by any of the five police stations under her command during the protests.
“From the report I got from my OCSs, there were no live ammunitions used during the demonstrations,” Officer Mugambi said.
The inquest is set to continue on July 16, 2025, with more witnesses expected to testify.
