General Service Unit officer Ezekiel Tarus at the Milimani Law Court on March 5, 2025. He is accused of shooting and killing CBK chief security officer Raphael Wambua.
A General Service Unit (GSU) officer who allegedly shot dead a senior security officer of the Central Bank of Kenya will remain in custody for another 10 days pending a decision on a murder charge.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina directed that Mr Ezekiel Kipkoech Tarus, who is attached to the CEO of Safaricom, be detained at Ruaraka Police Station to allow officers to complete investigations into the killing of Mr Raphael Kimuli Wambua.
Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) asked for more time to further interrogate the suspect, conduct a ballistic analysis of the firearm used in the crime and examine the results of a post-mortem examination.
The magistrate also noted that the police needed time to take the suspect to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness to stand trial for murder.
While granting the prosecution's request for Mr Tarus to be remanded in custody, Mr Onyina said the police needed time to complete the complex investigations into the incident.
“Given the seriousness of the offence and penalty imposed upon conviction, police need ample time to conclude the investigations into the capital crime,” Mr Onyina ruled.
The officer investigating the case said that after compiling the committal bundles, he would forward the file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for perusal, advice and directions on whether to charge the suspect with murder or not.
The prosecution had provided sufficient grounds to warrant the police request to detain the suspect for a considerable term, the magistrate observed.
“Considering the nature of the alleged offence, it is proper to allow crime detectives at least 10 days to have the suspect in their custody to interact with him and get to the bottom of the matter before charges can be preferred," the magistrate said.
Mr Tarus is accused of murdering Mr Wambua, who was in the company of his brother, Erick Ngolanie, also a GSU officer, at Allsops, Ruaraka in Nairobi.
The suspect accosted the two as they walked home after watching a football match at a restaurant near Naivas Supermarket.
Preliminary investigations indicate that there was a confrontation between Mr Tarus and Mr Wambua before the fatal shooting.
The suspect allegedly shot Mr Wambua using his Ceska pistol at close range.
In an affidavit presented before the court, Mr Tarus was also attacked by a mob after the incident and requires medical attention.
The police had applied to detain the suspect for 14 days.
However, defence lawyers Danstan Omari, Cliff Ombeta and Shadrack Wambui opposed the DCI's request, arguing that a mental assessment is not a mandatory requirement for the suspect.
They also argued that the firearm in question was not in the suspect’s custody and that ballistic tests could proceed without his involvement.
