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IG Kanja directed to respond in missing Marakwet East MP aide case
IG Douglas Kanja asked to divulge the whereabouts of Bethwel Chesir.
As the mystery over alleged abductions and disappearances of people in the volatile Kerio Valley deepens, the High Court in Eldoret has directed Inspector-General (IG) of Police Douglas Kanja to divulge the whereabouts of the personal aide of Marakwet East lawmaker Kangogo Bowen, who went missing a week ago.
Justice Patrick Otieno has ordered the IG to respond to statements by two witnesses who were with the aide, Bethwel Chesir, when he was abducted by eight armed men suspected to be government security agents. Mr Chesir’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Mr Chesir, 52, was abducted along the Kaptagat-Eldoret highway after he was intercepted by two double-cabin pickups as he drove to see his ailing father at a hospital in Eldoret city. The abductors took him away, leaving the two other occupants blindfolded, with the authorities denying knowledge of his arrest.
Justice Otieno has now asked the IG to respond to statements by Dominic Kipkiroe and Clare Koech, who were travelling in the same vehicle with Mr Chesir when he was abducted on August 7. They have recorded statements with the investigating officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at the Elgeyo Marakwet offices.
The investigating officer, Patrick Okumu, confirmed having recorded statements from the duo who witnessed the abduction.
Lawyer Kwame Ramo, representing the IG, has denied the allegations of abduction. Justice Otieno directed Mr Ramo to formally respond to the allegations by the two witnesses before the hearing of the matter slated for August 18.
Justice Otieno ordered that the government, as respondents—by themselves, their agents, and/or representatives—must have Mr Chesir produced in court, whether dead or alive. The court further ordered that if the government is unable to produce Mr Chesir in court as directed, the respondents and all responsible agents must appear in court.
The incident is among several similar cases reported in the banditry-prone Kerio Valley.
Other cases include the abduction of Edward Kipchumba Terer, a 48-year-old laboratory technologist, and Mark Lomuke, who worked at the KVDA Tot mango factory. They were abducted in early June, and their families have searched for them without success.
On June 3, the lifeless bodies of two men suspected of involvement in a priest's murder were found on the Mogotio-Kiptuno road in Nakuru County. Their families had reported them missing on May 30. The deceased were allegedly linked to the killing of Father Bett.
According to the families of Simon Yego, 45, and Collins Kipyatich, 22, the duo was kidnapped on the same day in their village of Tot, where the priest was murdered on May 22.
Other reported killings in the region include those of Bonface Ongote and Simon Njaga.
Father Bett, a Catholic priest, was shot dead by suspected bandits in late May while on his way back to his residence after preaching in one of the local churches.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has vowed to take harsh measures against perpetrators of violence and banditry in the Kerio Valley region.
The family of Edward Kipchumba Terer, a medical laboratory technologist, also went missing in the volatile Kerio Valley region almost two months ago without a trace. He had worked at a private clinic in the Sambalat area for the past 11 years.
Mysterious disappearances, suspected abductions, and possible extrajudicial killings in Kerio Valley mounted after the bodies of two men found dumped by the roadside in Nakuru two months ago were identified as residents of Tot in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
