Rex Masai inquest reveals major gaps in police investigation
The officer confirmed that 128 police officers had been deployed in the city centre to cover the June 2024 protests, with most assigned to protect Parliament following intelligence reports that protesters planned to storm the building and take the Mace.
A senior Nairobi detective has admitted that police do not know who shot Rex Masai or exactly where he was shot more than a year after the young protester was killed during anti-Finance Bill demonstrations in the city centre.
In a testimony that revealed serious investigative gaps, Tiberius Ekisa, the DCI officer in charge of Nairobi Central at the time, said failed CCTV systems, uncooperative witnesses, and missing records continue to block justice.
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Ekisa, on Thursday, told the inquest that he first learnt of Rex's death through a call from Bliss Hospital at 7:45 pm on June 20, 2024.
He immediately deployed officers to identify the deceased and transfer the body to the City Mortuary.
“After the postmortem, we commenced our investigation as per our service standing orders,” he said.
But those efforts soon ran into major obstacles. Ekisa said members of the public who rushed Rex to the hospital declined to help when asked for details, often saying the matter had been taken up by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
The hospital also did not disclose the names of those who brought him in.
Seeking to pinpoint the shooting scene, he wrote to the National Police Service (NPS) CCTV Command Centre on July 3, but was informed the surveillance system at Jogoo House was not working because its fibre link was under repair.
Attempts to obtain footage from other buildings like Reinsurance Plaza also failed.
“I only received a regret from the NPS CCTV Command Centre, with the responsible officer, Chief Inspector A. Limo, saying that the fibre cable linking Jogoo House to adjacent buildings and roads was faulty,” Ekisa testified before Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo.
With no camera footage to rely on, DCI officers moved to interview security guards stationed at buildings along Moi Avenue, Kenyatta Avenue, Parliament Road, City Hall Way, Standard Street and Harambee Avenue. Still, they could not identify where Rex was shot.
“Our efforts to locate the scene where Masai was injured have been futile, though it is presumed to be on Moi Avenue,” he said.
Ekisa also dispatched an officer to Bliss Hospital to interview staff who attended to Rex, but that too did not lead to useful information.
He told the court that on the same day Rex died, police received a report about a stolen civilian firearm within the CBD, though one of the reports on the incident has never been recovered.
As the inquest continues, questions remain around the role of undercover officers in the operation. One of them, Constable Isaiah Murangiri, is believed to be the officer who shot Rex. But Ekisa firmly denied knowing him.
“I had 108 officers. I know them all because we have meetings every week,” he said.
"Do you know an officer called Isaiah Murangiri?" Ekisa was asked, “I don't know him,” he responded.
Ekisa also said he had never issued shoot-to-kill instructions.
He denied knowing about the so-called “Alfamine Squad,” an alleged undercover unit made up of officers in plainclothes drawn from several stations, including Central Police Station, and said he had not worked with or heard of the squad’s members.
The officer confirmed that 128 police officers had been deployed in the city centre to cover the June 2024 protests, with most assigned to protect Parliament following intelligence reports that protesters planned to storm the building and take the Mace.
He said the demonstrations were marked by looting, destruction of property and the disappearance of firearms, some of which have never been recovered.
Before being transferred from Central Police Station, Ekisa said he forwarded the investigation file on Rex Masai’s death to the Director of Public Prosecutions on October 11, 2024.
“However, to date, we have not received that file back. The toxicology report is not yet out,” he added.
Rex Masai died after being shot in the leg during peaceful protests and later bled to death. Witnesses had rushed him to Bliss Hospital after the shooting. The inquest resumes on July 23.
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