Human Rights Groups led by representatives from the Mukuru Social Justice Centre on Wednesday slammed the government over delays in the probe into Kware murders in what they termed as a conspiracy to deny victims justice.
They called out the government during the release of a report titled ‘Kware the Aftermath’ where they revealed what happened since the Kware murders came to the limelight nearly three months ago.
Representatives from the Mukuru Social Justice Centre, who have been leading operations in the pursuit of the missing people suspected to be dumped in Kware, urged the government to deliver justice to victims.
In July, the revelations of the disturbing remains at Kware in Mukuru kwa Njenga emerged, which saw Collins Jumaisi identified as a suspect and was arrested. He later escaped from custody.
The suspect is alleged to have murdered his wife as his first victim before disposing of her body in the Kware pit which is barely 100 metres away from his house, in 2022.
His ensuing escape from the Gigiri police station on August 20 further complicated the matter.
Initial police reports stated that he admitted to killing 42 people but later denied the accusation saying he was coerced to make the admissions.
In a new revelation, volunteers divulged first responders received threats and intimidation while they were removing the bodies from the quarry.
The Social Justice Center said it went on with its retrieval process for two weeks before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) told them to halt the search as they were engaged with the Nairobi Government disaster management team.
“After retrieving nine bodies on the first day, protest erupted in the community and police started to engage Mukuru residents in running battles. The cases of police brutality increased,” a representative from the Centre stated.
The human rights group claimed there were several attempts to stop them from going on with the search. One volunteer testified he was threatened with arrest by police officers. Additionally, they reportedly received phone calls, harassment, and threats from unknown people.
“As if finding bodies in the quarries was not traumatizing enough, 15 people were shot by the police officers from Mukuru Police Station with one person losing his life as a result,” the Centre added.
It comes as four families in Mukuru are still searching for their missing kin. The Center called on Kenyans to step up and defend their rights.
