In a dramatic turn of events, the closure of the inquest into the killing of Gen Z activist Rex Masai on October 30, 2025, did not materialise after the introduction of 10 more witnesses.
Among the witnesses are Dr Lawrence Machira of Bliss Hospital and eyewitness George Ndikas, who were among the last people to see the activist alive.
The inquest was scheduled to be concluded, but the National Police Service (NPS), through its lawyers Moses Kipkogei and Elias Ouma, urged the court to compel the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) not to close the matter before calling ten more witnesses, including eyewitness George Ndikas, who was walking with the activist before he was gunned down.
NPS accused the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) of covering up for some persons of interest in the matter.
NPS told the court that, besides the ten witnesses, it is contemplating calling the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga to clarify why he hurriedly ordered IPOA to commence investigations into the shooting of Rex Masai.
“NPS reserves the right to have the DPP himself summoned to testify in this inquest and explain why he thought Rex Masai was killed by a police officer,” the NPS lawyer told trial magistrate Geoffrey Onsaringo.
NPS claimed the DPP ordered the probe hardly 12 hours after the shooting of Masai, without giving the NPS time to carry out investigations through the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and bring the perpetrators of the offence to book.
“I have been instructed by NPS to seek summons for Mr Ingonga to attend court and testify,” the NPS lawyer told the court.
Meanwhile, a bid by the DPP, through prosecuting counsel Jalson Makori, and IPOA to summon Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Eliud Lagat hit a brick wall when NPS indicated it would instead summon the DPP personally to shed light on the decision he made without giving NPS an opportunity to carry out its constitutional mandate.
After a heated legal exchange between lawyers representing NPS, IPOA, the DPP, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), and the victims’ family, the issue of DIG Lagat was shelved. However, former Nairobi sub-county police commander Dorris Mugambi was recalled to testify for the third time regarding an operations order.
The court was also presented with a letter authored by DIG Lagat on the issue of the operations order.
“The DIG is also a person of interest because he has been summoned and did not come. We urge this court to order him to testify so as to shed light on some issues in respect of the current matter,” IPOA’s lawyer told the court.
IPOA tendered a letter authored by Lagat stating there were no operational orders to combat the anti-government protests in June 2024.
“Please note that there is no operation order in respect of response to all the assemblies, demonstrations, picketing, and petitions as outlined in Article 37 of the Constitution, or any unlawful or riotous assemblies within the meaning of Sections 78 to 89 of the Penal Code,” Lagat stated in the letter presented to the court.
IPOA asserted that its investigations revealed there were operation orders for Mombasa and Siaya counties, but the one for Nairobi was missing.
After the heated court session, the magistrate gave the parties ten minutes to agree on whether to summon DIG Lagat and to indicate the number of remaining witnesses before the closure of the inquest.
When the court resumed shortly before 5 p.m., the prosecuting counsel informed the court that the parties had agreed to rescind the move to summon DIG Lagat after NPS stated it would summon the DPP, Mr Ingonga, instead and did not wish to turn the inquest into a circus.
Consequently, the magistrate deferred the inquest to November 11, 2025, for further directions.
Masai was killed during the June 2024 protests against the shelved 2024 Finance Bill, which left over 60 demonstrators dead.
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