lawyer Willie Kimani
By ABDULHAKIM SHERMAN
newsdesk@dailyreporter.co.ke
The burning of the Syokimau AP post is part of a wider scheme to tamper with evidence that could lead to conviction of those behind the murder of lawyer Willie Kimani a residents body has said.
The Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (KARA) in statement by its chief executive officer, Mr Henry Ochieng, called for thorough investigations to establish those behind the arson attack.
“It is surprising that even after the police post was declared a crime scene, adequate measures were not put in place by the police to properly secure the scene and prevent any interference,” the statement said.
Mr Ochieng said there was a likelihood that the burning of the police post is part of a wider scheme to tamper with evidence that could lead to conviction of those behind the murder of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josphat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.
“We therefore call for thorough investigation be carried out to determine the real motive and the individuals behind the burning of the police post,” he said.
They also asked the FBI team investigating the murder of the trio to also take a keen interest in the burning of the police post and help unearth the real perpetrators.
Mr Ochieng asked the Inspector General of Police to move with speed and ensure that normal operations at the Syokimau Police Post are restored in the shortest time possible to prevent possibility of crime rate in the area going up.
He said any plans to close down the police post, be vacated and instead measures be put in place to upgrade it to a full police station so as to address insecurity concerns of that residents of Syokimau.
On Thursday, Boda boda riders burnt the Syokimau AP police post during a protest against the killing of one of their own, his lawyer and taxi driver.
The over 6,000 boda boda riders from Syokimau, Mlolongo and Athi-river stormed the police post to demand justice for boda boda rider Josephat Mwenda, his lawyer Willie Kimani and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.
Reacting to the incident, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said he had ordered police to investigate the arson and arrest those responsible. “It is wrong to burn such a structure that serves locals for prosperity.
I have ordered that those behind it be arrested,” said Mr Boinnet. The protest by boda boda riders began at the Makadara grounds before proceeding to Mavoko law courts. Transport along the busy Mombasa road came to a standstill for close to three hours during the protest.
Lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were abducted by people suspected to be police officers before they were murdered.
And as investigations into the murders intensified the postmortem examinations have revealed that the lawyer and his two associates were killed with blows to their heads using blunt objects and strangulation, postmortem examinations have shown.
An eight-hour autopsy led by Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor exposed the savagery meted out on lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.
The postmortem report indicated that Mr Kimani was smashed numerous times on the back of the head with a heavy blunt object. Mr Muiruri was first strangled and then finished off with blows to his head with a blunt object.
According to the Standard newspaper, the killers were more brutal on Mwenda, the boda boda operator whom the lawyer was representing at the time of their disappearance. As evidence of barbaric torture, Mwenda had severe bleeding in the chest, neck and a fracture in the head indicating he had also been hit with a blunt object.
According to Dr Oduor, their findings were that Mwenda and Muiruri had been killed by both strangulation and injuries in the head. However the lawyer was killed by an object that was used to smash his head severally.
