4 Kenyan police officers from disbanded unit face judge over 2 missing Indians, driver

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Four Kenyan police officers, part of a disbanded unit accused of acting outside the law, were arraigned in the capital Nairobi on Monday over the disappearance of two Indians and their driver.

The officers before the court, part of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation’s defunct Special Service Unit, are suspected of being directly involved in the July 24 disappearance of two Indian nationals, Mohamed Zaid and Ahmad Khan, and their Kenyan driver, Nicodemus Mwania.

The two Indians were in Kenya as part of an information and communications technology campaign team for then-Deputy President William Ruto ahead of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election, which Ruto won.

The Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) of Kenya’s national police service, the main applicant in the case, wants the court to grant it permission to probe the police officers’ cellphones.

They have also requested the court to allow them to take DNA tests from the four suspects to aid in their investigation.

Chief Magistrate Diana Mochache is set to make her ruling on those requests on Wednesday.

Ruto has accused the disbanded police unit of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

The Special Service Unit is accused of extortion, kidnappings, torture, extrajudicial executions, and enforced disappearances.