The mysterious death of slain AP officer Kipyegon Kenei (pictured) has deepened with the revelation that his image was edited out of crucial footage that captures the key suspects in the fraudulent Sh39 billion arms procurement scam at Harambee House Annex.Harambee House Annex houses the Office of the Deputy President.According to the footage, the suspects spent over an hour at Harambee House Annex and not 23 minutes as earlier claimed by DP William Ruto.
The Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti on Thursday shared the preliminary findings in a press conference complete with a longer CCTV footage of the one hour 22 minutes-long presence of the suspects at the building.Kinoti said his officers from the forensic unit had been denied access to the whole footage by those “in charge of security” whom he did not name.
“On February 14, DCI officers proceeded to Harambee House Annex seeking to be provided with CCTV footage covering the events of February 13, 2020. The officers were denied access and only shown 23 minutes of footage which had been taken from various cameras,” he said. He added, “They were asked to record whatever from the monitors on their phone or with any devices they had but not to be given any extract”.
Kinoti went on to say: “The in-charge security refused to grant the officers access and to extract footage from the server claiming that it was not possible as it will allegedly interfere with the entire setup.
It doesn’t add up”.The clips that were broadcast on live TV, show the movement of former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa, two guests believed to be from American company Eco Advanced Technologies, LLC and Kenei who was found dead on February 20.
Echesa and three others have been charged with defrauding the two guests on the pretext they would help them secure a tender to supply military hardware.Kinoti now says earlier footage was edited to conceal the roles of Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei in the fake procurement scam and that his death was a cold murder that was well-staged managed.The DCI boss said evidence from the movement of Kipyegon before his death and the crime scene at his Twiga Court house in Imara Daima Estate, Nairobi, where he was found, ruled out the claim he committed suicide.
Kipyegon was to record a statement with the police on the fake arms scam before he was reported missing and eventually dead.“On February 18, all officers who were on duty at the office of the deputy president on 13th were all summoned to DCI headquarters to record statements on the evets at DP’s office. On 19th, all the officers assembled at the DCI headquarters except the deceased,” Kinoti explained.Kinoti said that Kenei’s superior did not make an attempt to find where he was or visited his home when he missed work on that day.Kinoti said Kenei was found in his pyjamas laying on the floor of the house and that his bed was surprisingly neat, showing there was no struggle in the room.
“He only had a bed in his house which was neatly spread. Forensic examination indicates he did not disturb the bed,” the DCI boss said.According to a post-mortem report by government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor, Kenei died from a single gunshot wound on his chin.It added that he died a day or two before his body was discovered, as it was decomposing.
