Fresh details emerged in the inquest into the death of activist Rex Masai after investigators revealed that detectives were unable to trace the firearm used to fatally shoot him during the June 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations in Nairobi.
Testifying before the court on Thursday, Principal Investigating Officer Justin Nyatete said the investigation faced major setbacks due to what he described as non-cooperation from some police officers who were deployed during the protests.
Nyatete, a detective with over two decades of service, told the court that investigators examined witness accounts, photographs and video footage collected from the scene near Absa Bank in Nairobi’s Central Business District where Masai was shot.
According to the officer, evidence gathered during the probe showed that Masai was the only casualty reported at that specific location, while other injuries recorded during the protests occurred elsewhere within the city.
The court heard that part of the evidence reviewed by detectives included material submitted by a protected witness identified as a journalist. Some of the images allegedly captured an officer in plain clothes moving alongside anti-riot police officers along Uhuru Highway.
Nyatete said the individual seen in the photographs carried a police radio and baton despite not being dressed in official uniform. Investigators later identified the officer as Isaiah Murangiri.
The detective further testified that Murangiri appeared similar to a person captured in separate footage recorded near the scene where Masai was shot.
According to investigators, Murangiri had been deployed undercover during the demonstrations and had been issued with a tear gas launcher.
The court also heard that he carried a smaller firearm while on duty. However, forensic findings failed to connect his weapon to the fatal shooting.
“The ballistic report showed the cartridge recovered had been fired from a revolver and not from the pistols issued to the officers under investigation,” Nyatete told the court.
He explained that detectives faced another setback after the bullet that struck Masai exited his body and could not be recovered for further examination.
“We could not link the pistols to the bullet. We were also unable to recover the firearm that discharged the fatal shot,” Nyatete testified.
The court also heard that investigators noted contradictions in statements provided by Murangiri during the probe.
In one statement, the officer reportedly claimed he was not on duty on June 18, the day of the protests.
However, in another account, he stated that he had reported to work on June 20 at around 5:20 a.m. and had been assigned guard duties at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
Nyatete further told the court that detectives attempted to establish the identity of individuals captured chasing demonstrators during the chaotic protests.
But according to the investigator, officers who appeared before the court denied involvement and insisted that the people seen pursuing protesters were criminals posing as police officers.
“Our investigations could not verify who the people chasing demonstrators were,” Nyatete said. “We did what we could, but we encountered non-cooperation from the police,” she added.
The testimony exposed significant gaps in the investigation into Masai’s death, with the court hearing that despite multiple witness accounts, video evidence and ballistic analysis, detectives had not identified the firearm or the individual responsible for the fatal shot.
The inquest is expected to continue as the court considers whether additional officers should testify over the circumstances surrounding the killing during the anti-Finance Bill protests.
