• The officers were arrested yesterday after CCTV footage showed them releasing the alleged kidnapper.
• Martin Wasike, a Ugandan, had been charged with kidnapping a police officer with an intention to murder him.
Image: FILE
Three police officers who are alleged to have helped an accused to escape from Kamukunji police station were charged yesterday in a Nairobi court.
Martin Wasike, a Ugandan, had been charged with kidnapping a police officer with an intention to murder him. He denied the charge and was held in custody. However, he escaped from the cell a day later.
Corporal Vacity Kemeres, Stephen Ochieng and Elias Mungaria have been charged with aiding his escape. They denied the offence before principal magistrate Esther Kimilu.
It was alleged that on May 13 at the Kamukunji police station, they jointly helped Wasike to flee. Wasike is still on the run.
The family of the missing policeman, Abel Misati, who disappeared in January, opposed the officers' release on bail. Through lawyer Alfred Nyandieka, they argued that the kidnapped cop, who is still missing, is a police officer and so the accused might have an interest in the case.
"The kidnapped person is a police officer, so to say they have no relationship is a misrepresentation" Nyandieka argued.
However, the officers, through their lawyer, argued that accused persons are innocent until proved guilty, adding that the application by Nyandieka to deny them bail had no basis.
It was their argument that bail is automatic unless there is evidence to warrant otherwise.
“They have no contact with the alleged kidnapper, who is at large, the application is lacking any foundation in law, I request you dismiss it and release the accused on lenient terms,” the court heard.
Kamukunji OCS appeared in court on Tuesday this week and sought to assure the magistrate that they were investigating how Wasike escaped from police custody.
Police records indicate that they looked through the CCTV footage of that day and discovered that the three officers before court deliberately released Wasike at 5am.
Kimilu released them on a Sh200,00 bond each with a surety of the same amount, or alternative Sh50,000 bail.
Edited by F'Orieny