The case surrounding the killing of Gen Z activist Rex Masai has taken another twist after senior investigators were directed to take over the probe.
This move comes after the National Police Service (NPS) raised serious concerns that the inquiry conducted by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) was incomplete and lacked essential evidence. The police, through their lawyers G & A Advocates, told a Nairobi court that such omissions could lead to a miscarriage of justice.
They emphasized that the death of Rex Masai was a matter of great public concern and that justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done.
The NPS asked Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo not to allow the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to close the inquest before all crucial evidence was brought forward. They warned that no stone should be left unturned in a case involving the loss of life.
According to their submission, the investigations by both IPOA and the DPP were “incomplete and lackadaisical,” putting the case at risk of ending without holding those responsible to account.
Among the gaps the police highlighted were missing witness statements, absent CCTV footage from a nearby bank, lack of photographic identification, unexamined arms registers, incomplete ballistic analysis of a Ceska pistol, and missing testimony from medical and property witnesses.
They said that to date, only the arms register from Central Police Station had been submitted, yet several police units, including those from Kamukunji, Kilimani, Ngara, and Parliament, were deployed on the day of the protests. The police argued that all firearm registers must be reviewed to identify the exact weapon used in the shooting, warning that failure to do so created the impression of a shallow investigation.
The police identified George Ndickers Abuti, a close friend of Masai, as a key eyewitness who has not yet testified. Abuti had told IPOA that he was with Masai when police opened fire and that he carried him to Bliss Hospital, where he later died.
The planned closure of the inquest on October 30, 2025, failed after ten new witnesses were introduced, including Dr. Lawrence Machira of Bliss Hospital and Abuti himself, who were among the last people to see Masai alive.
The NPS also requested that the DPP, Renson Ingonga, be summoned to explain why he concluded that Masai was killed by a police officer and why IPOA was instructed to start investigations just 12 hours after the incident without the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) conducting its own probe.
A request by the DPP and IPOA to summon Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat was later dropped after NPS insisted they would summon Ingonga instead.
During the same hearing, former Nairobi sub-county police commander Dorris Mugambi was recalled to testify again about an operations order. The court also reviewed a letter from DIG Lagat stating there were no operational orders for the June 2024 protests in Nairobi, unlike in Mombasa and Siaya.
After a heated exchange involving NPS, IPOA, the DPP, the Law Society of Kenya, and the victim’s family, the court adjourned the inquest to November 11, 2025, for further directions.
Rex Masai was among those killed during the June 2024 anti-tax protests that left over 60 people dead.
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