Brian Odhiambo case: Investigating officer reveals KWS cover up scheme

Julius Muhui, the investigating officer in the case of Brian Odhiambo, revealed to the court that the six Kenya Wildlife Service officers conspired in the mysterious disappearance of Brian Odhiambo.

On May 5, Senior Sergeant Francis Wachira, Alexander Lorogoi, Isaac Ochieng, Michael Wabukala, Evans Kimaiyo, and Abdulrahman Sudi were charged with the abduction of Brian Odhiambo.

In earlier statements, the KWS alleged that the person they had in custody ran away; however, the investigating officer refutes this, saying that there is no evidence to support such claims.

“Sergeant Wachira, who was in charge of the operation, together with the other five officers, planned and executed the abduction of Brian Odhiambo,” says Mr. Muhui.

To prove his case, the investigating officer requested the duty roster from KWS to establish the officers who were on duty, and it was confirmed that the six were working on January 18, the day of the arrest.

“I further conducted interviews with the six accused and established that they were carrying out an operation to arrest illegal fishermen at the Lake Nakuru National Park. They managed to apprehend Brian Odhiambo at Manyani area and drove towards an area called Vietnam, where they met another Landcruiser with other officers,” he states.

The investigating officer told the court that Sergeant Wachira then instructed the officers to move Brian to a different vehicle.

The vehicle in question was driven by Mr. Abdulrahman Sudi, and Mr. Sudi was to remain behind guarding Brian as the other officers ferried the other suspects.

“In his statement, Mr. Sudi alleged that as he drove to Manyani area, Brian Odhiambo requested to relieve himself. Mr. Sudi said he stopped; however, Brian managed to overpower him, untied himself, and ran away,” says the investigating officer.

Mr. Muhui says that even though the officers claim the suspect escaped, there are no records in the Occurrence Book at the KWS to support this.

“The procedure demands that once a suspect escapes while in custody, the officers are supposed to make an entry on the nature of the incident in the OB. The officers made a remark on the OB which was more of an afterthought,” he says.

“Whenever such cases occur, they are made as an incident and not as a remark. They ought to have made an entry on the nature of the occurrence. There was no report of an escapee in the OB kept by the KWS,” says Mr. Muhui.

He concludes by saying that after gathering the evidence, they decided to arrest the six individuals and charge them with abduction with intent to confine.

The matter will proceed tomorrow with the defense cross-examining the witness.