The murder case involving Rex Masai took a new twist after a witness revealed that Police Constable Isaiah Murangiri was at the scene during the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests, contrary to the officer’s assertions.
While testifying during court proceedings on Tuesday, July 29, the witness, a photojournalist, placed Murangiri, the officer accused of shooting Rex Masai, at the scene of the crime.
The witness further revealed that he had trailed Murangiri for two days during the protests and accused him of using excessive force and violence, stating that this behaviour prompted him to follow the rogue officer.
He also provided photographs of the officer in plain clothes, firing tear gas, arresting journalists and protesters, and wearing a bracelet bearing the name “Izoo,” short for his name, Isaiah.
The photojournalist noted that the presence of such footage challenged Murangiri’s initial claim that he was off-duty during protests, and thus could not be behind Masai’s shooting.
Appearing before the court on Wednesday, July 16, accused officer Isaiah Murangiri Ndumi disputed CCTV footage and other visual evidence presented by the prosecution, allegedly placing him in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD) and along Uhuru Highway during the widespread protests.
He remained adamant, maintaining that the individual depicted in the images and video footage, specifically described as a person in a blue shirt and grey trousers carrying a walkie-talkie, was not him.
When asked, “The person in a blue shirt and grey trousers with a walkie-talkie — is that you?” he responded, “No, Your Honour, that is not me.”
Despite cell data placing the officer at the exact location of the shooting, he continued to insist that he was not in the vicinity.
Masai succumbed to his injuries after being shot during the protests in an incident that was caught on camera.
In the incident, a plain-clothed officer, believed to be Murangiri, was filmed firing at the protesters at around 7 pm as police moved to contain the protests.
Some of the protesters who took Rex to a medical facility revealed that he was pronounced dead at the facility within the CBD.
Preliminary examination by the doctors indicated that Rex was hit with a bullet in the thighs. A post-mortem later confirmed that Rex died from excessive bleeding due to the thigh wound.
