One of the two Ugandan suspects accused of kidnapping and possibly murdering a police officer in January has escaped from police custody in unclear circumstances.
Martin Wasike on Thursday, May 14, escaped from Kamukunji police station where the court had directed they be detained until June 2.
The foreigner was on Tuesday charged alongside a Kenyan, Phoebe Anindo Andayi, and another Ugandan, Shariff Wanabwa, for allegedly kidnapping Constable Abel Musati on January 19.
The 27-year-old officer, who is attached to Kamukunji police station, has not been traced since then but detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) later on April 17 recovered his mobile phone in Eastleigh, Nairobi.
The dramatic escape happened just two days after the prosecutor warned that the severe sentences pronounced in the charges of murder were an incentive for the three to escape the wrath of the law.
“The prisoner was discovered missing by the OCS while checking the prisoners in custody. A team of officers from the Kenya Police Service and DCI Kamukunji has been dispatched to Mathare slums to track down the suspect,” Police headquarters said.
While opposing their release on bond, detectives said they feared the officer may have been killed.
Another Ugandan believed to have taken part in the kidnapping is yet to be arrested and detectives have notified Interpol to help in tracking him down.
On Tuesday, the suspects applied to be released on bail arguing that they had been in remand for 21 days.
However, the lawyer representing Misati’s family, Alfred Nyandieka, opposed the application saying the three were a threat to public security if they could kidnap a well-trained police officer.
The prosecution had planned to extend the investigations to Uganda and later charge all of them with murder.
Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi said the prosecution had presented compelling reasons to warrant the court to deny the suspects bond, adding that the two Ugandans had no fixed abode in Kenya and that they lacked identification.
