The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) wants the Inspector General of Police, Hillary Mutyambai, to investigate a police officer who filed an affidavit against Justice Sankale ole Kantai. The Judge was roped into the murder of the late Tob Cohen by the officer who accused him of being part of the well-oiled plan to eliminate the Dutch Tycoon.
In a letter dated Thursday, October 7, and in our possession, the murder case may now take a paradigm shift considering that the officer, John Gachomo, a Director and detective at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) filed the affidavit without involving the ODPP.
In the affidavit, Gachomo swore that he was part of a team of detectives that investigated the murder of the tycoon. He also claimed that Sankale played an active role in both the planning and cover-up of the gruesome murder.
The office of the DCI also accused the ODPP of attempting to terminate the investigation against the Judge, terming it as illegal and unconstitutional.
DPP’s office, however, stated that the evidence provided by the DCI could not be admissible in court as they had not been notified prior to Gachomo swearing the affidavit. A source from the ODPP further indicated that the contents contained in Gachomo’s affidavit were misleading.
“He went and swore an affidavit in court and so he lied to the court by saying that he was one of the investigators in the Tob Cohen case but that was not the case. He wasn't. At the time, he was the head of ATPU,” the source told Kenyans.co.ke.
“The contents of the affidavit that they presented to the court was misleading. Whatever they presented there was not what they had presented to the ODPP, therefore, the DCI officer is lying to the court and that in itself is an offense.”
In the letter, the ODPP urged Mutyambai to have the DCI explain why the prosecutor was not enjoined in the matter as well as why the evidence presented in the affidavit was leaked to the press before it was handed to the DPP.
In the court documents filed on Friday, October 8, and certified as urgent, the ODPP sought to be enjoined in the ongoing proceedings against the Judge noting that it was an interested party in the matter.
The ODPP also indicated that the DCI had failed to execute its mandate even after being directed to carry out more investigations and provide evidence linking the Court of Appeal Judge to the matter.
In a supporting affidavit attached to the suit, Victor Mule, the acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, confirmed that the ODPP only approved evidence supporting the involvement of Sarah Cohen and Peter Njoroge Karanja in the murder of the tycoon, whose criminal case is still pending at the High Court.
In February 2020, DCI forwarded a file to the ODPP seeking to charge Sankale with murder, arguing that after Cohen went missing, Sarah maintained contact with Sankale and talked for over seven minutes on one occasion.
"The only agenda for discussion at this point in time was the murder of Tob Cohen which had just been executed few hours prior to this discussion.”
"It is highly believed that the discussions centered on how to dispose of the body and come up with ways and means of effecting cover-up to conceal any trace of evidence,” read the letter in part.
The following month, on March 17, 2020, the ODPP replied asking DCI to provide cogent justification regarding Sarah Cohen’s relationship with the Judge showing that their correspondence proved that they were colluding in the murder.
The ODPP followed up with another letter to DCI asking for the file to be submitted four months after it had been returned. DCI was also yet to respond six months after the office had been asked to carry out more investigations.
Towards the end of August, Sankale sued the police for linking him to the murder of the dutch tycoon without any evidence.
Naming the Inspector General of Police (IG) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Judge argued that the shameful move grossly injured his reputation as a respected member of society and among his learned peers.
Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen was found dead on Friday, September 13, in a septic tank in the Spring Valley area, along the Lower Kabete Road, 40 days after he was reported missing. DCI established that the tycoon had passed away on July 20.
