Will they ever get justice? Nakuru police in the spotlight over unsolved defilement cases

Did you know that in 2022-2023, a total of 68 cases of defilement were reported for children aged 11-15, while another 65 cases involved children aged 16-18?

This is according to the Nakuru County Government Children's Department.

The most recent is that of four-year-old Alice Ayuma, whose body was found dumped in a maize farm in Rongai on July 14, 2024.

According to Caroline Nanjela the mother of the deceased, she had spent most of the afternoon with her daughter and later went to play with the other children.

Shortly afterwards, it started to rain heavily.  Her two sons, aged 5 and 2, returned home, but Alice did not.

As the minutes ticked by, Caroline became increasingly worried. With the help of her family and neighbours, she organised a search party.

The group then marched to the Ol Rongai police station to report the incident.

Later, she received a call from her brother with the sad news that her daughter's lifeless body had been found on a maize farm.

According to the autopsy report, the cause of death was a blow to the back of the head.

The four-year-old had been defiled and had a piece of wood stuck in her vagina. Smaller pieces of wood were found in her uterine walls, which had completely destroyed her womb. She also had stab wounds to her skull and a rectovaginal fistula.

In a separate incident the village of Leleshwa in Kasambara, Gilgil sub-county, was last year plunged into mourning following the death of 12-year-old Jasmine Njoki Wambugu.

Jasmine's lifeless body was found by locals in a thicket after reports of her disappearance went viral.

Reports indicated that the deceased had been defiled before she was killed. Trizah Wangari, the mother of the late Jasmine Njoki, said in an interview that the police had failed to speed up the investigation into her daughter's murder.

Five suspects were arrested following the incident. 

However, when it came to comparing their DNA samples with those collected at the scene, 'the government chemist is claimed to have been experiencing technical difficulties with machines,' an anonymous source told Mtaa Wangu.

None of the above cases have been prosecuted, leaving the families of the victims with the feeling that justice delayed is justice denied in the case of their children who met a painful end at the hands of unknown persons.

As a result, they have put the police on the spot for not carrying out thorough investigations to apprehend the criminals who continue to walk free.

Affected families now accuse the police of being the weak link in the chain of justice.

According to Nakuru County Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi, a number of factors have contributed to the slow pace of some cases.

Sometimes, he says, there are logistical problems that slow down investigations.

"Sometimes it is a problem to get cars to collect DNA samples of suspects for testing to Nairobi because the fuel allocated for these vehicles is usually not enough and also the government chemists' machines break down and it takes time before they are repaired, which is a big challenge," Mr Ndanyi says.

When Mtaa Wangu run the series dubbed Lost Innocence, Cate's mother revealed that she had been threatened by unknown people while seeking justice for her 16-year-old daughter who was raped by her headmaster.

"Witness tampering is also a major obstacle in these cases and we cannot rule out the possibility that even within the police there are rogue elements who are sometimes careless with investigations and this leads to the case going cold," says Ndanyi.

The case of four-year-old Alice Ayuma is now one month old and no one has been arrested.

Mr Ndanyi, however, rejects claims that the police are the weak link in the delivery of justice in rape and defilement cases.

"Investigations take time and we cannot speculate on such matters. We always rely on hard evidence to bring the culprits to justice. Some cases go on for years before we make a breakthrough. The public always expects instant results, but this cannot be the case," he says.