{"id":114679,"date":"2025-05-06T10:03:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T10:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/06\/baby-pendo-case-dpp-refutes-claims-of-dropping-charges-against-8-police-officers-says-they-will-be-state-witnesses\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T10:03:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T10:03:27","slug":"baby-pendo-case-dpp-refutes-claims-of-dropping-charges-against-8-police-officers-says-they-will-be-state-witnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/baby-pendo-case-dpp-refutes-claims-of-dropping-charges-against-8-police-officers-says-they-will-be-state-witnesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Pendo case: DPP Refutes Claims of Dropping Charges Against 8 Police Officers, Says They Will Be State Witnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, May 6, 2025 \u2014The Director of Public Prosecutions has denied claims that it dropped charges against eight police officers linked to the 2017 murder of Baby Samantha Pendo, following widespread public criticism from civil society groups.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement, the DPP clarified that the eight officers will be required to record statements as prosecution witnesses, not suspects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DPP urges media outlets to always fact-check before publishing content,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

Four police officers were on Monday formally charged before the High Court in Milimani with multiple counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and torture, under the International Crimes Act.<\/p>\n

The officers charged are Inspector John Chengo Masha and Inspector Linah Kosgey, both of whom face charges related to Baby Pendo\u2019s murder, rape, and torture, along with alternative charges of failing to prevent or report the crimes. Robi Wankio and James Rono have been charged with rape, torture, and failing to act against widespread sexual violence targeting civilian women.<\/p>\n

The four officers pleaded not guilty before Justice Margaret Waringa Muigai to one count of murder, 11 counts of rape, and 38 counts of torture. The case is scheduled for mention on May 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

The ODPP noted that the charges had been reviewed to strengthen the prosecution\u2019s case following the disappearance of Mohamed Baa, one of the officers initially linked to the case, who remains at large.<\/p>\n

As a result, the DPP directed that eight other officers previously implicated in the incident will now serve as prosecution witnesses.<\/p>\n

The ODPP also urged media outlets to verify facts before publishing, reiterating its commitment to upholding the Constitution, the rule of law, public interest, and justice.<\/p>\n

This clarification follows a joint statement from Amnesty International Kenya and 29 other human rights organisations, which condemned what they described as a decision to drop charges against the eight officers.<\/p>\n

The coalition, which includes the Utu Wetu Trust, International Justice Mission, and the Police Reforms Working Group-Kenya, accused the ODPP of excluding senior commanders from accountability. They also expressed concern about the public disclosure of victims\u2019 and witnesses\u2019 identities in the charge sheet, warning that this could lead to reprisals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge all parties to adhere to the court\u2019s order to mitigate harm to victims in accordance with the Victims Protection Act,\u201d the statement said. The groups also called for redaction of victims\u2019 and witnesses\u2019 names in future proceedings and reporting.<\/p>\n

The coalition condemned delays in the case, which has taken over two years to reach the plea-taking stage, attributing the delays to frequent adjournments by both the prosecution and the defence.<\/p>\n

They urged the judiciary to expedite the trial and ensure that victims and witnesses are protected from intimidation and threats, similar to those experienced during the International Criminal Court proceedings following the 2007\u201308 post-election violence.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, May 6, 2025 \u2014The Director of Public Prosecutions has denied claims that it dropped charges against eight police officers linked to the 2017 murder of Baby Samantha Pendo, following widespread public criticism from civil society groups. In a statement, the DPP clarified that the eight officers will be required to record statements as prosecution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}