By Sarah Nyakio
Ten members of the General Service Unit are expected to appear in court to face murder charges over the shooting of four people during a protest in Masimba area off Mombasa Highway, Kajiado.
They are accused of shooting and killing four people on June 2, 2022 during a protest by a mob over increased attacks by wild animals.
The officers spent their weekend in police custody after their arrest over the incident that happened after the protesters blocked the busy highway for hours.
An investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority has found them culpable for the deaths of the four during the clash that also left six other villagers with severe wounds.
The incident happened when the officers attached to the GSU opened fire at the demonstrators on the Nairobi – Mombasa Highway.
Those who died were Duncan Kanari, Letemir Topoika Yionti, Denis Matheka Mutua and Stanley Ntidu Tereu.
The victims were part of demonstrators who had thronged the busy highway to protest the invasion of their farms by elephants during which a teacher died after he was trampled on by the marauding jumbos.
The investigation revealed that the officers, who were travelling in two Landcruisers, fired 40 rounds of ammunition, before making it through barricades and driving off to Mombasa.
Some 17 spent cartridges were collocated at the scene.
Post-mortem examinations showed that each of the fatalities was caused by a single bullet wound, a bullet head and bullet fragments were retrieved from the bodies during the autopsy