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Tag: Kenyan police

  • Man accused of killing girlfriend in US escapes Kenyan police custody

    Man accused of killing girlfriend in US escapes Kenyan police custody

    Kelvin Kangethe, aged 41, who fled the United States after allegedly murdering his girlfriend, has managed to escape from a police station in Kenya.

    Kangethe was apprehended last week as he left a club in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, following an extensive manhunt by both Kenyan and US authorities.

    Despite a court order allowing his detention for 30 days pending possible extradition, Kangethe has vanished.

    Authorities claim that Kangethe killed his girlfriend last October and left her body in a car at Boston Logan International Airport before boarding a flight to Kenya, his country of origin.

    As of now, Kangethe has not provided any statement regarding the allegations against him.

    In a shocking turn of events, Kenyan police revealed that Kangethe escaped from the Nairobi police station where he was being held on Wednesday evening and boarded public transportation.

    Following this security breach, four police officers and a lawyer who met with Kangethe before his escape have been arrested, according to Nairobi police commander Adamson Bungei.

    The incident has been deemed “embarrassing” for Kenyan police, prompting a renewed effort to locate Kangethe.

    The family of Kangethe’s girlfriend, Margaret Mbitu, informed US media that she had intended to end their relationship before her alleged murder. Mbitu, a 30-year-old Kenyan-American nurse working in Massachusetts, was last seen leaving her workplace on October 30th last year.

    Her disappearance was reported on the same day, and her body was discovered two days later. Authorities suspect Kangethe fled the US during the period between Mbitu’s disappearance and the discovery of her body.

    Security footage captured Kangethe leaving the airport parking lot where Mbitu’s body was found, further linking him to the crime. He departed on a flight the morning after Mbitu went missing.

    A Kenyan court was scheduled to decide on Friday whether Kangethe would be prosecuted in Kenya or extradited to the US to face first-degree murder charges. Kangethe claimed to have renounced his US citizenship last year.

  • A foreign national detained in connection with murder of Kenyan woman

    A foreign national detained in connection with murder of Kenyan woman

    Kenyan police arrested a person from another country for killing a 20-year-old Kenyan student.

    He got arrested on Tuesday when he tried to leave Kenya with a Mozambican passport, according to the authorities.

    Rita Waeni’s body was found cut into pieces last Sunday at a temporary apartment in Nairobi.

    Her family thinks that someone tricked her and then tried to get money from them, even after they killed her.

    The person who killed Ms. Waeni sent three messages from her phone on Sunday morning. They said her family had to pay 500,000 Kenyan shillings (about $3,100 or £2,400) within 24 hours to get her back. Her family told this on Wednesday.

    Her head was cut off and her body was discovered soon after.

    “Unfortunately, the family didn’t get more information about the ransom or a chance to try this option. ” In addition, the family said that some requests were made after she had already been killed. They said this in a statement on Wednesday.

    The police are searching for Ms. Waeni’s head, which was taken by the person who killed her, along with her phone and other things that belonged to her.

    The family said that their lives have been completely destroyed by the murder, especially because of the way she was killed.

    The police are also trying to find out if the person captured by security cameras picking up the keys to the rental apartment is the same as the suspect.

    Two more people who may have been involved in the murder have been taken into custody.

    Investigators looked at Ms. Waeni’s Instagram and think that the person who killed her tricked her using the app.

    She was in her last year of studying at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

    Many people in Kenya are very upset and angry about the recent killing of Ms. Waeni and other women. This has led to an online campaign to protect girls and women.

    Less than two weeks ago, a popular person from Kenya was also killed in a similar way.

  • Kenyan detained after allegedly tossing baby into sea

    Kenyan detained after allegedly tossing baby into sea

    Kenyan police caught a woman who is believed to have thrown her eight-month-old baby into the Indian Ocean on Sunday.

    People told the news that the woman might have thrown the baby into the ocean from a boat as it was arriving in the town of Mombasa.

    A video of divers saving a child has become very popular on social media. Many Kenyans are angry at the woman and are happy that the baby is safe.

    “She went to the Red Cross Centre to get first aid, where she was treated and then sent home in okay condition. Her mother was taken to the police station for questioning. This was reported by K24 and Citizen TV, who got this information from the police report. ”

    The Kenya Red Cross said the baby is safe at their rescue center.

    It is not known yet what the woman will be charged with, if anything.

  • Kenya detains a second preacher in connection with the mass murdering of followers

    Kenya detains a second preacher in connection with the mass murdering of followers

    Kenyan police detained another well-known televangelist on Thursday in order to prosecute him on allegations “related to mass killing of his followers.”

    Ezekiel Ombok Odero, the pastor of the New Life Prayer Church in Mavueni, Kilifi County, announced his arrest on Twitter, according to Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who did not elaborate on the allegations against Odero.

    The minister said on the social media platform Twitter that “the said Church has been shut down,” adding that “over 100 people who were holed up at the premises (of the church) have been evacuated and will be required to record statements.”

    Odero touts miracle healing for the sick whom he sells packaged water (described as ‘living water’) and handkerchiefs at 100 Kenya shillings (around 70 cents)

    “There is nothing special in the bottle. It is purified water. I pray for it. The clothes used by Paul in the Bible healed many people. The shadows of the prophets also had healing powers,” he told local media in an interview.

    His church sits on 65-acre land and has a guest house that accommodates church members who “sleep in the church,” Odero said in a December 2022 interview.

    “The faithful come from all over the world,” he is quoted as saying. This place is full to capacity every Sunday. Getting a parking lot is difficult. I had built the petrol station for guests to fuel their cars,” he said.

    Odero’s arrest comes as the country is reeling from the discovery of at least 100 bodies in shallow graves in in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya. Some were found alive but weak and emaciated. They are believed to be members of the Good News International Church.
    Authorities are investigating the pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge for allegedly encouraging his members, including children to starve themselves to death to gain salvation.

    Kenyan authorities have vowed to implement tighter regulations on religious bodies and organizations after Mackenzie’s case sent shockwaves through the country and raised questions about the government’s intelligence.

  • Ex-Kenyan police officer sentenced to death for Kenyan police

    A Kenyan former policeman was sentenced to death on Friday for the murder of a human rights lawyer, his client and a taxi driver.

    Frederick Leliman and three others were convicted of carrying out the murders in 2016, in one of a series of cases of alleged police brutality and extrajudicial killings in Kenya.

    Lawyer Willie Kimani was representing a motorcycle taxi operator who was suing Leliman for shooting him at a traffic roadblock. Leliman later started threatening and intimidating the man.

    The bodies of Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were discovered in the Ol-Donyo Sabuk River, in the east of the country, days after they were reported missing.

    Evidence produced in court showed that the three were abducted after a court session on June 22, 2016, were briefly locked up and then were taken out and murdered in an open field. Their bodies were discovered on July 1.

    Leliman was given a death sentence, while former officers Stephen Cheburet and Sylvia Wanjiku received sentences of 30 and 24 years, respectively, and police informer Peter Ngugi was jailed for 20 years. A fourth former police officer, Leonard Mwangi, was acquitted.

    Those sentenced to death in Kenyan courts serve a life sentence. Kenya’s last execution was in 1987.

    The four have 14 days to file an appeal.

    The murders triggered a series of protests by lawyers and human rights defenders because Kenyan police have in the past been accused of brutality and extrajudicial killings but very few officers have been convicted.

  • Suspect arrested after prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba reportedly found dead

    Suspect arrested after prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba reportedly found dead

    Kenyan police on Friday said a suspect had been arrested in connection with the death of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner whose body was found stuffed into a metal box in the west of the country.

    Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported, quoting police sources.

    Activist Edwin Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.

    Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many. The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years.

    The death drew condemnation from several human rights groups, including the International Commission of Jurists Kenya section, which called for the speedy investigation and apprehension of those behind his killing.

    “Chiloba’s death is a tragedy and an affront to human dignity and violation of the right to life #JusticeForChiloba,” it said on Twitter.

    Resila Onyango, Kenya National Police Service’s spokesperson, said officers had arrested one person in connection with Chiloba’s death.

    “Police arrested one male suspect in Eldoret on Friday. He is the main suspect but the matter is still under investigation,” she said in a text message to Reuters.

    “Words cannot even explain how we as a community are feeling right now. Edwin Chiloba was a fighter, fighting relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society when it came to LGBTQ+ lives,” GALCK, a Kenyan gay rights group, said on Twitter.

    Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison. It is rarely enforced but discrimination is common.

    Source: CNN

  • Kenyatta warns against US, China rivalry in Africa

    Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Wednesday that African nations should be free to cooperate with both the United States and China, warning that foreign powers were exacerbating the continent’s divisions.

    President Kenyatta was speaking on a visit to Washington, where speculation has built that the United States will seek to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Kenya, in what would be a first with an African nation.

    On the eve of his talks with President Donald Trump, President Kenyatta said he was “very concerned” about a return to the Cold War era when Africans had to choose between the United States and the Soviet Union.

    “Western countries, and their counterparts in Asia and the Middle East, are returned to competition over Africa, in some cases weaponising divisions, pursuing proxy actions and behaving like Africa is for the taking.

    “Well, I want to tell you it is not,” he said at the Atlantic Council think tank.

    China has been funding billions of dollars worth of infrastructure around the world, including a modern new rail-line between Nairobi and the port of Mombasa, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

    The United States has been increasingly vocal in urging developing nations to be wary, warning that they can be saddled with unpayable debts to Beijing for projects built largely with Chinese labour.

    Asked about the criticism of China, President Kenyatta said: “We don’t want to be forced to choose. We want to work with everybody, and we believe that there is opportunity for everybody.

    “There are those areas indeed where America stands out and has much, much better strengths in certain fields. On the other hand, you have the Chinese who build hospitals in seven days.”

    The White House said Trump would speak to President Kenyatta about “new opportunities to advance cooperation and trade.”

    Scott Eisner of the US Chamber of Commerce said the private sector was increasingly paying attention to rumours that the US and Kenya would start free-trade negotiations.

    “There’s some big numbers you could hit over the next six to 10 years should a big deal come together,” Eisner, head of the Chamber’s US-Africa Business Center, told reporters on a conference call.

    He pointed to Kenya’s medical device industry, tech sector and textiles as areas for trade and said the country had proven to be a “good market entry point” to East Africa.

    The United States has free-trade agreements with 20 countries but none are in Africa.

    Bob Lighthizer, the US trade representative, said in 2018 that the Trump administration would choose one African country for a “model” free-trade agreement.

    Driving the momentum for a trade deal, a US law that sets import preferences for African goods is set to expire in 2025.

    Passed by Congress in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act lets sub-Saharan nations export an array of products to the United States tariff-free if they meet conditions such as maintaining a market-based economy, protecting labour rights and combating corruption.

    Trump is not known for his interest in Africa. But the State Department announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would pay his first visit to Africa from February 15 to 19, stopping in Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia.

    Source: Theeastafrican.co.ke

  • Kenyan school closed after pupils’ death in stampede

    Kenya’s education minister has temporarily closed a primary school where 14 pupils were killed in a stampede on Monday evening.

    The crush happened at Kakamega Primary School, north-west of the capital Nairobi, as the children were leaving classes for home at about 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

    Five boys and nine girls died in the incident. The cause of the stampede is not yet clear.

    Education Minister George Magoha has ordered the school closed until Monday next week.

    He said the cause of the stampede will be established soon.

    Mr Magoha arrived at the school on Tuesday morning to assess the situation, the Daily Nation website reports.

    Source: bbc.com

  • At least 10 Kenyan police killed by bomb near Somali border – Police

    At least ten Kenyan police were killed when their vehicle struck a homemade bomb near the border with Somalia on Saturday, according to a police report seen by Reuters.

    Police believe the device, for which no one immediately claimed responsibility, was planted by Islamist group Al Shabaab, the report said.

    Read:US Army soldier arrested after allegedly discussing bombing news network

    Police said in a separate statement that several officers had died, without specifying how many.

    A similar explosion in June killed around a dozen police.

    Read:Bomb blast hits police bus in southern Turkey, five wounded Governor

    Source: af.reuters.com