IG Douglas Kanja faces grim reality of Kwa Binzaro exhumations
The air was heavy with the smell of decay, yellow tape hung loosely from tree trunks marking exhumation sites, and exhausted officers trudged through thickets with shovels.
When Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja walked into Kwa Binzaro on Wednesday, the reality that met him was harsher than any official report could capture.
The air was heavy with the smell of decay, yellow tape hung loosely from tree trunks marking exhumation sites, and exhausted officers trudged through thickets with shovels.
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“This is an expansive exercise of exhumation and searching. I want to appreciate all the multiagency teams involved in this. Many people are involved from various fields, and that is important because it shows we always come together, and as people, we can be able to overcome,” said Kanja.
Kanja, who was accompanied by Director of Criminal Investigations boss Mohamed Amin and senior commanders from Nairobi, explained that he had come to Kwa Binzaro “to be taken through what this team has actually been doing so that we can be able to understand very well.”
DCI boss Mohammed Amin at Kwa Binzaro, Kilifi, on Wednesday. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein)
By the time of his visit, 32 bodies had been exhumed and two other bodies recovered, bringing the total to 34, alongside 102 body parts.
All have since been transferred to mortuaries for forensic examination as investigators attempt the painstaking task of piecing identities together.
The Inspector General acknowledged the scope of the operation, describing Chakama Ranch, where Kwa Binzaro lies, as “a very expansive area, it is a forested area, over 50,000 hectares of land.”
He added, “For that reason, it needs all of us to come together to overcome this.”
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and DCI boss Mohammed Amin at Kwa Binzaro, Kilifi, on Wednesday. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein)
Investigations are already pointing to those believed responsible.
“We have also arrested 11 suspects, four of whom are actually the main suspects, and one, Shirleen, is actually the lead,” Kanja disclosed.
He declined to reveal further details, saying the probe is ongoing and a full investigation file will soon be completed. The area remains heavily guarded.
“We have our security team that we have deployed in this area that is patrolling and ensuring that we do not have such a repeat. We do not want people to be brought here for radicalisation purposes and to see their lives in a manner that we have seen,” said Kanja.
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja at one of the exhumation sites at Kwa Binzaro, Kilifi, on Wednesday. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein)
But Kwa Binzaro’s scale means that even the presence of elite officers is not enough without community support.
Kanja stressed that the operation hinges on shared responsibility, “From the word go, I said we want to work as a team, we want to work as a multiagency, we want to engage everybody from intelligence collection, the community, the leadership from the community and everybody else.”
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