Baby Samantha Pendo: Four Kenyan police officers charged over killing as others freed
Four Kenyan police officers have been charged with the murder of a six-month-old baby nearly eight years ago.Eight other officers who had originally also been accused alongside the four have had the charges against them dropped by the public prosecutor, sparking criticism.The case relates to baby Samatha Pendo, who was fatally hit in 2017 as police were deployed to quell violence linked to post-election protests in the western city of Kisumu.On Monday, the four officers who are still accused denied multiple charges including murder as a crime against humanity.
They also pleaded not guilty to other charges of torture and rape committed against civilians.But a number of human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say the charge sheet "omits senior officers who held overall command responsibility during the operations that saw the deaths, rape and injuries of no less than 60 Kenyans".They have also expressed concern over the prosecutors' office move to name the victims and witnesses which it said could expose them to harm and reprisals.Baby Pendo - as she became known - died after being hit on the head, which caused a national outrage and became a symbol of the police brutality during the 2017 unrest.The public prosecutor at the time initiated a public inquest.After the inquest found the police culpable, the prosecutor ordered further investigations into other cases resulting from the police operation.But none of the accused had until now entered a plea amid repeated delays in court, which sparked calls for justice and accountability.Baby Pendo's mum, Lensa Achieng, has told the BBC that she is hopeful for justice and is pleased that "we have a case now".She said the journey had not been easy "but as the family of Baby Pendo at least we are going somewhere... they are taking a bold step to take the case to another level."It's just our prayer for us to find justice for our daughter so that whatever happened to us does not happen to another parent."Rights groups have continued to criticise the delays, blaming numerous attempts to defer or stall court proceedings.They say the charges were amended without the involvement of the investigating agency, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa). Ipoa has said it does not know the rationale used by the prosecutor.There has been little movement since a new prosecutor took over in 2023, and this year the head of Amnesty Kenya, Irungu Houghton, told the BBC that there seemed to be "an unwillingness to try to prosecute this case".Amnesty and other rights groups are now calling on the judiciary to ensure the cases against the four officers are not delayed.Additional reporting by Gladys Kigo
You may also be interested in:
Pressure mounts to probe Kenya police and army after BBC exposéBBC identifies security forces who shot Kenya anti-tax protestersBatons, tear gas, live fire - Kenyans face police brutalityWATCH: Inside the world of Kenya's 'killer cop'
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edinburgh Live
2 hours ago
- Edinburgh Live
Husband of Scottish man murdered in Kenya pays tribute to 'love of his life'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info The husband of a Scottish businessman murdered and found in a sack of pineapples in Kenya has paid tribute to the "absolute love of his life." Simon Farrer paid tribute to his partner Campbell Scott, from Dunfermline, as a prime suspect in the horror murder case made a bid for freedom on Tuesday, June 17. Mr Scott was discovered in a sack of pineapples about 60 miles from where he was last seen in Nairobi in February. Suspect Alex Mutua, a Kenyan national, pleaded not guilty to killing the 58-year-old. Mutua appeared at a court hearing which was watched online by Mr Scott's heartbroken family and husband, Simon Farrer. Simon and Campbell had been together for more than three decades as tributes were led to a "once in a lifetime" partner, reports the Daily Record. Mr Farrer said: "How do you condense all those years we were living together? There was love and support, respect, honesty and patience. (Image: Daily Record) "Campbell really was once in a lifetime and touched many people in many ways. People said everyone should have a Campbell in their life. His generosity was there for everyone. No matter what situation you were in, he was the first to offer help. "If you needed money he would give you his last penny. He was the absolute love of my life and we made memories I'll cherish forever. "A friend once said 'where there's a Campbell, there's a Simon'. Now there's just me and the memories. He's left a huge hole in everyone's lives that can never be filled." Mr Scott was attending a conference at the JW Marriot Hotel in the Kenyan capital on February 16. The senior director at a credit scoring firm was last seen leaving the hotel with a man before taking a taxi to a residential area. His body was then discovered by herders in a remote forest on February 22. His husband, who he entered into a civil partnership with in 2010, watched the man charged with killing him, Alex Mutua, appear in court on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege that Mutua took Mr Scott to his house in the neighbourhood of Pipeline where he was murdered after he, and others, tried to withdraw money using the businessman's credit cards. Another man wanted by police over the murder is understood to have taken his own life in March while two suspects remain on the run. Those men have been named as Benard Mbunga Mbusu and Alphonse Munyao Kilewa. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages Albunus Mutinda Nzioki was previously arrested but is now to appear as a witness in the case. Prosecution advocate Ms Ogweno told the court that Mutua was a "flight risk" and had been known to "lure" victims online with accomplices. She said: "We are apprehensive he is likely to regroup with the two other accomplices." Defence lawyer Mr Khadondi told the court there was no evidence to support the prosecution's case for bail and Mutua has a "constitutional right" to be released pending trial. He said: "The seriousness of the charge alone is not a compelling reason to deny my client bail. He has strong family ties to the community and has no intention to flee from justice. "He is entitled to liberty pending trial unless there are compelling reasons to justify his continued detention, which the prosecution has not adequately presented to this court". He added: "The assistant chief and villagers at his rural home describe him as a person of good morals within the community and he has no history of misconduct." The bail decision was deferred until later this year.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Cyclists send record number of Jeremy-Vine style videos to police
Cyclists are sending a record number of Jeremy Vine-style videos to police, new figures show. More than 15,000 clips of cyclists being overtaken too closely by motorists were submitted to forces in England and Wales last year, according to information obtained by a road safety charity, more than double the 7,249 in 2021. The increase comes amid a growing wave of so-called vigilante cyclists who use helmet cameras to film bad drivers and report them to police. The most high-profile has been Vine, the BBC and Channel 5 presenter, who regularly posted footage of his daily commute taken from his 360-degree helmet camera. He has reported drivers to police for passing too close to him, as well as for using their phones behind the wheel. While he announced in April he would stop posting the videos, blaming the online trolling he received, it appears he has influenced other cyclists to take road safety into their own hands. The charity IAM RoadSmart sent a freedom of information request to 43 police forces asking how many pieces of footage showing a close pass of a cyclist by a motorist were submitted as part of Operation Snap, an initiative introduced in 2017. Twenty forces provided data. The responses showed that the percentage of reports leading to a notice of intended prosecution being served rose from 38 per cent in 2021 to 54 per cent last year. A separate survey of 655 drivers who are members of IAM RoadSmart indicated that 58 per cent were not aware that the Highway Code recommends the minimum gap they should leave when passing cyclists is 1.5 metres (4.9ft). Harriet Hernando, the charity's active travel spokeswoman, said: 'It is extremely concerning that more than half of motorists don't know how much space to give a cyclist when overtaking. Passing too closely to a cyclist can be intimidating and dangerous, especially if they need to move out to avoid a pothole. 'It is small wonder then that record numbers of cyclists are installing cameras and submitting footage of dangerous or careless drivers to the police. While it is heartening to see that prosecution rates have increased, it would be better if it didn't reach that stage and motorists weren't doing it in the first place.' Provisional Department for Transport figures showed that 85 cyclists were killed on Britain's roads last year. Between 2019 and 2023, most cyclist fatalities occurred in collisions involving a car. IAM RoadSmart has launched a No More Close Calls campaign aimed at eradicating close passes and has called on the Government to better promote the new Highway Code. A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'We take road safety extremely seriously, and there are already strict penalties in place for those who put the safety of cyclists at risk. Our roads are among the safest in the world, but we are always looking to improve.'
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
What a waste this SNP Government has proved itself to be
Here we are less than six months away from the start of the ban and yet again we are seeing the SNP modus operandi. Make a big announcement of some grand idea, claim to be virtuous by saving the planet, yet don't put the effort in to actually put all the systems in place. It's just like the ferries all over again, although this time it's not the islanders who will be impacted but the English. As Scotland will not have enough incinerators for the next two years according to Ms Martin, 80-100 lorries every day will be heading south to England to go into their landfill. Imagine the impact on the roads, the environment and the cost at doing this, all because the SNP did not make sure that the structures were in place. I can't picture 600,000 tonnes of waste which is how much this will be annually. What I do know is that suddenly our neighbour is of use to the divisive SNP. The minister actually said in the interview that the 'landfill ban is a good thing in terms of reducing emissions, particularly potent methane emissions'. Does she believe that having a landfill ban in Scotland, sending our waste to England to their landfills reduces emissions? Is she really expecting us to believe that? Apparently she also believes the 'positive environmental impact of stopping landfill far outweighs any impact of temporary measures' (ie sending lorries to England). Her spin doctors were working hard when they came up with that line. We will have heavy lorries on the roads, Scottish waste going to landfill in England polluting the environment and the cost of this to the Scottish taxpayer, which she does not mention, all because the SNP has not done the hard graft to get enough capacity to deal with our waste. It's had 14 years to get this right and failed. Jane Lax, Aberlour. • Plans to send waste to England for disposal remind me of the old car sticker that said: 'Keep Scotland tidy, dump your rubbish in England'. This is an area in which we have some considerable skill, in offshoring manufacturing industry to exclude the emissions from our own statistics. Scott Simpson, Bearsden. Read more letters Another problem is looming Despite the fact it has taken the BBC some time to appreciate and understand the effects of the Scottish Parliament's (already-postponed) ban on the landfill of untreated municipal waste at the end of this year, the Disclosure programme on Monday (June 16) highlighted the nub of the problem: in January 2026, Scotland will be generating 600,000-700,000 tonnes of waste that will have to be trucked to England (or further) for disposal. We won't have enough Energy from Waste (EFW) plants to cope, and the prospects of increasing our recycling rates (that have stagnated since 2012) are pretty poor. It was disappointing that the programme makers didn't do some further research into the reasons for this inertia. The options are either to thole umpteen trucks taking Scottish waste to England (or the ports), or postpone the implementation date for the ban (again). If the latter, is that fair on the companies who are currently investing (or have already have invested) heavily in EFW technology in anticipation of the ban? It's yet another example of policy being made up on the hoof with either the waste industry not being consulted or (if it was) its advice being ignored. But there's another problem looming. The Westminster Government is presently consulting on a proposal to unify landfill tax by 2030 by removing the lower rate for inert wastes (soil, rubble etc) that's currently less than 4% of the higher rate (£126.15/tonne). If that happens and Scotland doesn't follow suit, it would create a situation where it could be economically viable to establish new landfills just north of the border for English waste being trucked up here. Cynics might welcome the idea on the grounds that the trucks hauling Scottish municipal waste to England for disposal would then have the opportunity to backload inert waste for the return journey. John Crawford, Preston. Priorities are all mixed up You report that a Treasury Minister, Emma Reynolds, was unable to give either the precise location or the total cost of yet another project in the south-east of England, a dual tunnel under the Thames linking Essex and Kent ("Minister struggles when questioned over new Thames crossing as costs mount", The Herald, June 17). The cost, it seems, will be between £9.2 billion and £10.2bn. This is a cost being borne by all of us, on top of HS2 (now stopping at Birmingham, not Edinburgh), the incredibly expensive nuclear power stations being built in the south, the aircraft carriers and more. Yet, as a nation, we struggle to keep people warm, people housed and children born into families on benefits fed and clothed. We have certainly gone wrong somewhere. Patricia Fort, Glasgow. This pledge is not believable Back in 2007 one of the first things new First Minister Alex Salmond promised was a focus on more efficient government and reform of nine departments of the "executive", 27 executive agencies and the 152 quangos. He added: "I'm not sure we need that complexity for a nation of five million. If you're going to have joined-up government you need less bits to join up." Eighteen years later and one of the relics, or should I say ruins, of that hopeful regime, John Swinney appeared on stage in a gaslit fug of smoke and mirrors to swear he's going to finish the job ("Ministers in plan to save £1bn a year by cutbacks on 'waste'", The Herald, June 17). Where's he getting his inspiration from? The spirit of Alex Salmond or the spectre of Trump, Farage, Reform and DOGE? One thing we can be sure of: it ain't gonna happen on John Swinney's watch. Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven. • I was almost amused to read that, after 18 years in power, the SNP has decided to save £1 billion a year by cutbacks on "waste". A picture of John Swinney with a newly-grown centre parting would have been even more believable. Duncan Graham, Stirling. Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Image: PA) It's time for Hoyle to go I read with incredulity the letter (June 16) from Jackie Storer, Press Secretary to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons. Only a lackey on the Speaker's payroll could write such drivel. Your readers would have to be 'soft in the head" to believe that Sir Lindsay Hoyle has any 'soft power' as an international peace-keeper. He cannot even keep order in the House of Commons and is an international embarrassment. During over a quarter of a century's membership of the House of Commons, I experienced five Speakers: Selwyn Lloyd, George Thomas, Bernard Weatherill, Betty Boothroyd and Michael Martin. The best by far was the only woman to have held that high office, the formidable Betty Boothroyd, who managed to keep order and chair debates with an admirable combination of professionalism, firmness and humour, while ensuring that even the most humble backbencher got a fair kick of the ball. The current Speaker has none of these attributes. I have never met Sir Lindsay Hoyle but I literally kent his faither, Douglas, who began his Westminster career as an extreme left-wing MP but later transmogrified into an Establishment Member of the House of Lords, where his son will no doubt follow him. Since my retirement, I have more than occasionally watched Parliamentary debates on TV and read reports of the current Speaker's conduct at home and abroad. I have come to the conclusion that Sir Lindsay Hoyle is not only incompetent. He is pretentious and profligate: a perfect example of someone who has been promoted above his abilities. In short, he is not fit to lace Betty Boothroyd's boots and it is time for him to go. Dennis Canavan, Bannockburn.
