Suspects linked to the Baby Pendo murder case when they appeared before Justice Margaret Muigai for plea-taking on January 29, 2025.
The parents of Samantha Pendo, the baby killed during the 2017 post-election violence, have led 42 other individuals in demanding criminal charges against eight senior police officers.
In court papers, the 44 victims of police brutality want a May, 2025 decision by Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga to drop charges against the police officers revoked.
The eight senior police officers who had initially been accused under the doctrine of command responsibility.
Samantha Pendo who died of head injuries sustained during a police raid at their family home in Nyalenda slums in Kisumu in August 2017.
The 44 have filed a High Court petition arguing that the DPP was only granted permission to withdraw charges against Mohammed Baa, a fugitive whose prosecution became unlikely after fleeing.
The petitioners hold that Mr Ingonga withdrew charges against other officers without authority or explanation to the courts, Independent Policing Oversight Authority or the victims.
That move, they argue, could lead to collapse of the first-of-its-kind case as the petitioners say that the eight are the senior most officers based in Kisumu at the time of the crimes, and were adversely mentioned during a public inquest.
Former DPP Noordin Haji had preferred charges under the International Crimes Act against the 12 senior police officers, a move never tested before in local courts.
“If the DPP is allowed to proceed with the prosecution without including the eight senior police officers ( Benjamin Koskei Koima, Benjamin Lorema , Josphat Sensira , Mohammed Ali Guyo, Mohammed Baa, Titus Yoma, Titus Mutune and Volker Edambo) these officers will effectively be shielded from accountability and victims will be denied substantive and comprehensive justice for the crimes against them, thereby further entrenching impunity that has gone unaddressed for almost a decade,” the victims said in court papers.
The officers currently facing court include Cyprian Robi Wankio, James Rono, Linah Kogey and John Chengo Masha.
“These (the 8) officers will effectively be shielded from accountability, and victims will be denied substantive and comprehensive justice for the crimes against them, thereby further entrenching impunity that has gone unaddressed for almost a decade,” the petition stated.
Insufficient evidence
In May, 2018 then DPP Haji said there was enough evidence to try the 12 senior police officers for murder, rape and torture.
Civil society groups celebrated Mr Haji’s move, particularly to prosecute the senior police officers for crimes against humanity.
On May 5, 2025, after the police officers were charged, there was celebrations among the civil society groups.
A rights group Partners in Justice International Hailed the decision by the DPP to press criminals’ charges under the International Crimes Act.
The 44 victims of police brutality have, through their legal team, raised concerns that the criminal case could collapse if the DPP has his way, holding that the seven senior officers are not likely to testify against their juniors.
Parts of Kisumu city witnessed wide spread protest and the Government had to call in for reinforcement from the elite GSU officer to restore calm.
It is during this police operation that some residents complained of having been tortured by the police while others claimed that they were raped and killed by the police in effort to restore calm.
Baby Samantha Pendo’s parents Joseph Abanja and Lencer Achieng’ with their other baby, Jackins, at Kisumu Law Courts on February 14, 2019, during the ruling on the public inquest seeking to establish the killers of their daughter. It is a gloomy Mother's Day for Lencer.
Amid the chaos, a group of police officers stormed into a home and assaulted baby Pendo’s parents. One of the officers hit the six-month-old baby on the head with a baton. A postmortem done revealed that baby Pendo succumbed to blunt force trauma.
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