AfricaPress-Kenya: Details have emerged on the lengths to which senior police officers went to cover up for an officer who shot and killed a nine-year-old girl in Nairobi.
Stephanie Moraa Gisemba was killed by a police bullet in Mathare during the chaotic demonstrations that ensued after the contested 2017 presidential election.
The NASA coalition used her as a poster child of the police brutality but three years after her death, the family is nearly giving up hope for her killers ever being held accountable.
Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi accused the police of covering up the killing of Stephanie Moraa saying that the officers who were present at the shooting were well aware of who fired the gun but had refused to provide any names.
“I am almost certain that if the police service wished to identify and bring to book the officer who took away the life of Stephanie Moraa Gisemba, it would not take them a day to do so,” Magistrate Andayi ruled.
Andayi noted that despite the police deliberately killing Moraa , the officers were using the blue code of silence to protect their own.
During the hearing, the court noted that it was very easy for the senior police officers to track down the officers involved in the shooting. However, the senior officers resolved to stay silent on the matter thereby delaying justice.
The disappointed magistrate stated that it was very unfortunate that the family of the little girl might not get justice and that the cover up which involves even senior officers was contributing to Kenyan’s lack of trust in the justice system.
Despite hearing multiple testimonies from witnesses, the identity of the police officer is yet to be known with the court being told that there are no records of officers who had been sent out on duty on that day.
A DCI detective, while testifying in the matter, decried that the case was systematically undermined with the unit receiving crucial evidence such as the retrieved cartridges, two months after the shooting. The cartridges were examined and found to have had no relation with the Moraa case.
According to Moraa’s neighbor who testified in the court, the police officer aimed the gun in Moraa’s direction but did not fire at first. He then aimed again and fired shooting her on the chest while playing with her friends.
Moses Onyango painfully recounted the events of that fateful day after the gun was fired and Moraa holding onto him asking for his help.
Wycliffe Mokaya and Damacline Marubu, Moraa’s parents, say that their effort to get justice for their little daughter has been derailed by the officers who were present during the shooting but insist that they do not know who fired the gun.
While appreciating the government support and the effort by the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) in following up on the case, Mokaya said that they needed additional help since the police officer had already vowed to protect their own.
“IPOA has done a recommendable job. We need someone to give us a helping hand. I am seeking the help of our Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i,” he says.
According to Moraa’s mother she would have been sitting for her KCPE this year, 2021, but that has since become a mere wish.
Devastated by the death of their daughter, she moved back to Isecha village, Marani Sub-county, Kisii county Where Moraa was buried.
“I couldn’t cope. I am sure one-day God will payback. I have been in the dark since my daughter was killed,” she narrated.
The protests are reported to have resulted from the decision of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to declare President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner of the first round of the 2017 general elections.
The deceased was immortalised in a book by exiled Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna who by dedicating his book Treason to Moraa and other victims of police brutality.
The family is saying that they have not lost hope in getting justice for their daughter even though the frustrations have become too much.
