Police Accused of Helping Masten Wanjala Escape Freed

Police officers Phillip Mbithi, Kamakia Mutuma and Precious Mwende at a Milimani court on October 15, 2021.
Police officers Phillip Mbithi, Kamakia Mutuma and Precious Mwende at a Milimani court on October 15, 2021.
K24 Digital

Three police officers who were arrested after the escape of self-confessed serial killer, Masten Wanjala, have been freed by a Nairobi court.

The trio was released on Friday, October 22, on a Ksh300,000 bond or a Ksh150,000 cash bail. They were charged with aiding the self-confessed serial killer to escape from police custody.

Appearing before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate, Bernard Ochoi, the officers denied two counts of aiding a remandee to escape from lawful custody and negligence of duty.

But the State was opposed to the release and had sought the court's permission to hold the suspects for 14 more days to allow detectives to conclude the probe into the matter.

Police officers Phillip Mbithi, Kamakia Mutuma and Precious Mwende at a Milimani court on October 15, 2021.
Police officers Phillip Mbithi, Kamakia Mutuma and Precious Mwende at a Milimani court on October 15, 2021.
People Daily

"On the night of October 12 and 13, 2021 at Jogoo Road Police Station within Nairobi County, jointly being officers in public service willfully neglected to prevent Wanjala, a murder suspect, from escaping, a duty you were dutifully bound to perform under National Police Service Act," the charge sheet read in part.

The court heard that officers based at Nairobi’s Jogoo Road Police Station are not a flight risk and will not interfere with the witnesses.

The trio were alleged to have helped Wanjala escape from lawful custody before he travelled to his rural home in Kabuchai, Bungoma County where he was stoned to death by a mob.

Their lawyer, Danstan Omari, faulted the state for not charging Wanjala saying he had been held at Jogoo Road Police Station since June and had become more like a police officer.

Omari had informed the court that there was a blackout at the Jogoo Road Police station on the day confessed serial killer Wanjala escaped from police custody.

At 8pm, the eight inmates were joined by ten others who had just been arrested. Shortly after, two other inmates were brought into the cell bringing the total number of inmates to twenty.

In the morning, an officer who conducted roll call noted that Wanjala was missing and informed two of his colleagues who were on duty. The officers stated that they did not know how the two escaped as there were no signs of breakage in the cells.

Wanjala allegedly paid police officers before escaping from Jogoo Road Police Station. A report by Citizen TV on Friday, October 15, indicated that Wanjala took the advantage of Covid-19 curfew offenders who had been bundled into his cell on a fateful night, to escape from prison.

The report further indicated that the offenders, who were arrested on the night the criminal escaped, were asked to pay money in order to secure their freedom.

Wanjala is later suspected to have hitched a ride on a trailer to Bungoma, where he was finally killed by a mob on the morning of Friday, October 15.

Self confessed killer Masten Wanjala during a court case in July 2021.
Self-confessed killer Masten Wanjala during a court case in July 2021
(COURTESY)
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