Acting IG Masengeli Found Guilty in Missing Persons Case

A court found acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli guilty of disobeying court orders.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi said impunity and open defiance cannot be allowed and those hell bent won’t find refuge.

“Masengeli is guilty of contempt and court ought to punish him accordingly,” said the Judge.

Mugambi also summoned to court a senior officer who had tried to trail him by seeking to know his whereabouts.

This was in regard to a case where three people are missing after suspected abduction in Kitengela, Kajiado County.

Masengeli was required to appear in court Monday to explain circumstances surrounding disappearance of the three people in Kitengela.

They went missing on August 19.

Six summonses have been issued by the court but Masengeli has snubbed all of them.

On Monday, he sent Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Eliud Lagat to represent him saying he was in Wajir over security matters.

But Mugambi in his brief ruling said the IG has held the court at ransom and it is no longer able to ascertain what could have happened to the petitioners.

The Judge at the same time summoned the commandant of SGB/VIP unit Lazarus Opicho to explain why he called his bodyguard and his driver to establish his whereabouts.

“We need to know the reasons for such an inquiry,” said the judge.

The judge reserved both the sentencing and explanation by Opicho to Friday September 13. They are set to get a fine or get a sentence.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) had asked that Masengeli be convicted and ousted from office after failing to comply with court orders seven times in a row.

The lawyers’ body through their lawyers Faith Odhiambo and Nelson Havi wants Masengeli to serve his sentence at Kamiti Maximum prisons and a fine to be deducted from his salary.

Mugambi summoned Masengeli to clear the air on the abduction of three men in Kitengela, Kajiado County.

Their abduction was linked to anti government protests that rocked the area.

“At the end of this, we will ask the court to do two fundamental things-to convict the acting IG for contempt of court and to sentence him to the highest permissible legal consequence,” said Havi.

“We want Gilbert Masengeli not to hold public office because it is not his personal property.”

Masengeli told the court that he is still engaged in operational activities in Wajir and cannot avail himself on Monday as ordered.

Through his lawyer Charles Mutinda he told the court the operational matters in the north eastern region were in context of securing the republic.

LSK however accused the acting IG of being in a concert and taking pictures with John Mbadi CS treasury and DCI while having tete-a-tete instead of obeying court orders.

“Are these the great matters while the nation is watching as three petitioners are still missing,” said the lawyer.

The lawyer body said giving Masengeli another chance will be a violation of article 10 of the Constitution.

“The right to be heard is given, If given must be exercised if not the court must do its duty,” court heard.

Masengeli was expected to explain the whereabouts of three individuals including Jamil Longton, his brother Aslam Longton, and activist Bob Njagi, who were reportedly abducted by individuals believed to be police officers on August 19, amid the Gen Z protests.