IPOA tells court probe into Rex Masai death hampered by police non-cooperation

A Nairobi court was told that efforts to uncover the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Rex Masai were repeatedly slowed down after investigators from the Independent Police Oversight Authority reported they were unable to obtain key information from the National Police Service, including deployment records and operational documents linked to the protests.

Justin Nyatete, a principal investigative officer attached to IPOA, said the probe into Masai’s death was affected by what he described as lack of cooperation from the police, forcing investigators to work with major gaps in evidence.

Appearing before Milimani Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo on Thursday, May 28, 2026, Nyatete said the authority carried out its mandate but encountered resistance from officers on the ground.

“Your honour, we did what we could, but we found non-cooperation from the police,” Nyatete told the court.

“Your honour, we have demonstrated before you the steps that we took as the authority, but those steps were pre-undermined by the National Police Service,” Nyatete added.

He further informed the court that investigators were unable to retrieve the bullet that killed Masai since it exited the body, a factor that made it impossible to match it with the two pistols that had been identified during the inquiry.

Nyatete also challenged accounts given by some police officers who had told the court that the people chasing demonstrators during the June 2024 anti-finance protests were criminals and not police officers.

He argued that if such individuals were indeed criminals, then the police had a duty to arrest and present them before court instead of leaving the matter unresolved.

“Your honour, the responsibility of the National Police Service (NPS) is to protect the public, yet according to what they purported to tell this court, those were criminals whom they did not apprehend to present them before court,” Officer Nyatete stated.

The court was also informed that IPOA had formally requested operational orders and officer deployment schedules through a court order, but the documents were not submitted by the police.

“Your honour, we (IPOA) requested an operational order and deployment schedule, but they failed to provide it, raising questions on how they deployed their officers,” Officer Nyatete told the court.

Nyatete further revealed that even the Deputy Inspector General of Police acknowledged challenges in accounting for officers deployed in civilian clothing during the protests.

“It is a serious admission from none other than the DIG himself that they failed to account for their officers whom they deployed, and our investigators could not know those officers who were in civilian clothes chasing the demonstrators,” Nyatete told the court.

The matter continues as the court examines the conduct of police during the June 2024 demonstrations that led to Masai’s death.