Two judiciary workers are among eight people who have recorded statements with police following the mysterious murder of a court clerk in Eldoret last week.
David Ouma, a clerk at the High Court in Eldoret, was found murdered metres from his house in Jerusalem estate in the outskirts of the town.
Uasin Gishu county police commander Augustine Nthumbi said detectives will analyse the statements. He said officers from the homicide unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations were involved.
“It will not take long before we start making arrests," Nthumbi said.
He called for patience as police investigate the murder.
Nthumbi defended police against accusations on the slow pace of the probe. He said investigations were moving in the right direction.
“Let me assure the court employees that Ouma's killers will be arrested soon. Police have no intentions to cover up anything to defeat justice for the victim, his family and friends,” Nthumbi said.
Ouma left his house after receiving a call from a colleague at around 10 pm last Friday. A neighbour stumbled on his body the following morning at 5 am. He had a deep cut in the back of his head.
The body was identified on Sunday by family and colleagues. A postmortem is yet to be conducted even as relatives plan a burial next week.
On Saturday, his colleagues staged a demonstration to protest the killing. The protest was led by Kenya Judicial Staff Association President Sango Maewa.
They expressed fear over their security owing to the rising number of murders.
Maewa cited an incident where a colleague and his entire family in Keruyoya were hacked to death. He said the body of a driver stationed at Tigania law court was found dumped along Isiolo-Maua road.
In February, two clerks - Phenney Rowa and Shadrack Bett - both working in the registry at the Law court died under unclear circumstances.
“This trend looks well orchestrated and targeting our members. We strongly condemn these heinous acts,” Maewa said.
He asked detectives to bring to book perpetrators of the criminal activities targeting judiciary staff. He said they have become vulnerable.
“We shall be asking for each of the judicial staff to be provided with armed security due to the sensitivity of our job. If not, then we should be licensed to carry guns for our security,” he said.
