Cabinet Secretary for Interior Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday, August 11, visited the family of two Embu brothers who were found dead after being arrested by police officers for flouting Covid-19 measures.
Benson Njiru Ndwiga and Emmanuel Mutura were found dead two days after they were arrested on their way home past curfew hours.
Speaking to the press shortly after meeting the family, Matiang’i promised the family justice saying the rule of law will prevail once investigations are complete.
“Investigative agencies are on it; our internal affairs unit is on it and the IPOA is on it. I promise the father because I have just met him this afternoon in the company of the Attorney General and the Inspector General of police, we will do everything we can to get justice. We will go in the direction that the investigative report will lead us to,” CS Matiang’i stated.
According to CS Matiang’i, Investigations are going on well and they are hoping that they will get to the root of the matter as soon as possible.
He said his ministry will not relent in pursuing justice for the two boys whose death dealt a huge blow to their family.
“A lot of work has been done; I do not want to pre-empt what is going to be done. I have been briefed that investigations are going on very well and as responsible public servants, we sat down with the father of those two children, we spoke and assured them that we will do what we have done before; namely to follow the law,” he added.
The deaths of the two brothers led to a series of protests that resulted in one death in Kianjokoma area, Embu County.
According to witnesses who spoke to People Daily, Benson and Immanuel were driven to the police station where other suspects were ordered to alight before the officers under the command of two corporals drove away with them to an unknown destination.
Witnesses discounted the police version of the circumstances leading to the death of two brothers, where they claimed the two jumped out of a moving police vehicle.
One of the witnesses who has already recorded his statement and also spoke to People Daily said Mutura, 19, was the first to be arrested.
He said the officers started assaulting him, prompting Ndwiga, his elder brother, to come to his rescue, according to the witness. “They had hit him on the head and was lying unconscious. One officer then hit Ndwiga and he fell to the ground. “It appeared as they assaulted him to silence him as he had witnessed his younger brother being beaten mercilessly,” he said.
After being assaulted, the two were put on the front seat of the police pickup and they drove towards Manyatta police station. Upon arrival, the police vehicle was parked near the cells where other suspects were ordered to alight. The two, however, remained in the vehicle.
It is not known what transpired but police would later report that the two could have jumped out of a moving vehicle as they were being taken to the station.
