Rex Masai inquest: Prosecution closes case after two years
What you need to know:
- Rex Masai was shot dead on the streets of Nairobi during the Gen Z-led protests in June 2024 against the Finance Bill.
- Masai’s family welcomed the closure of the inquest and said they had left the matter to the court to deliver justice.
The inquest into the death of Rex Masai has been formally closed after 30 witnesses testified in court over the killing during youth-led protests over two years ago.
The prosecution produced CCTV footage and photographic evidence on the protests and the fateful killing of Masai late in the evening of June 20, 2024 as protestors rejected the Finance Bill, 2024.
The prosecution, through State Counsel Jalson Makori informed the court that it had completed calling its witnesses, marking the end of the evidentiary phase of the inquest.
Among the final pieces of evidence presented was a forensic examination of a key video recorded by Dandora-based community human rights defender Brian James Omondi, alias Alaman, showing a plain-clothed officer on Mama Ngina Street firing twice at fleeing protesters.
The investigators said the footage was relevant to the circumstances surrounding Masai’s death.
The footage by Omondi the court heard was subjected to forensic examination after an eight-gigabyte silver flash disk marked “JO” was received at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) forensic laboratory on July 31, 2026.
The forensic expert Joshua Mutua who testified as the last witness told the court that he received the flash disk from the investigating officer Justin Matete and signed the exhibit memo before previewing its contents.
According to the expert, the footage was internally consistent in its temporal sequence and visual continuity.
It was recorded on June 20, 2024, commencing at about 7.18pm, and was approximately one minute long.
The expert further told the court that no technical indications of intentional insertion or deletion, duplication or rearrangement of the video content were identified during the examination.
Gen Z-led demonstrations
He subsequently prepared a forensic report and certificate, which he sought to produce as evidence in the inquest.
The court heard that the footage captured events involving a plain-clothes officer and demonstrators during the protests.
The evidence, however, remains subject to the magistrate’s eventual determination after considering all the evidence and submissions by the parties.
During the hearing, Masai’s family, represented by lawyer David Mwangi, welcomed the closure of the inquest and said they had left the matter to the court to deliver justice.
“I have taken into account the submissions by the parties and I mark the inquest closed,” the magistrate ruled.
The matter will be mentioned on September 24, 2026, for directions on the filing of submissions ahead of its ruling.
Masai was shot dead in Nairobi during the June 2024 protests against the Finance Bill, becoming one of the faces of the Gen Z-led demonstrations. He died from excessive bleeding after being rushed to Bliss Hospital.
The inquest was extended after National Police Service sought to recall some witnesses in the case.
IPOA has closed its case but NPS was allowed to call representatives from the Integrated Command, Control and Communication Centre (IC3), Absa Bank, International Life House and Bliss Hospital as witnesses.
The NPS was also allowed to summon one witness each from Kamukunji, Kilimani, Parliament and Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) police stations to produce the arms movement registers for June 20, 2024.
During the hearing, Mr Nyatet, the IPOA's lead investigator told the court that investigations into Masai's shooting uncovered attempts to obstruct the probe, including misleading information by key police officers.
Mr Nyatete testified that police constable Isaiah Murangiri Ndumba, a key suspect in the shooting, gave investigators a cellphone number that belonged to another person. Ipoa said it retrieved Murangiri’s registered numbers from Safaricom.
He also presented photographs and video footage showing an armed undercover officer in civilian clothing whom he identified as Murangiri. He told the court the officer's facial birthmark, clothing and appearance matched those captured in the footage.
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