Mystery surrounds the death of three officers, two of whom were members of elite Presidential Escort Unit guarding President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.
The body of a third officer, attached to Concordia police post in Kiembeni, Mombasa, was found within Bandari after an alleged suicide.
The body of constable Samuel Ngatia, who was attached to Ruto, was the first to be found on Monday morning soaked in a pool of blood in his sitting room.
This was within the General Service Unit’s Recce squad camp along Kenyatta Road in Juja.
Police are pursuing both murder and suicide theories, with preliminary findings showing his head was blown with a gun.
A family spokesman said Ngatia was initially attached to State House before he was moved to the DP’s office.
The deaths come even before the DCI unearths the 'murder' of Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei who was also attached to Ruto's office.
In the Kenei case, DCI boss George Kinoti had rubbished suicide claims and said they had enough clues "linking powerful individuals to the murder and subsequent cover-up."
Two years down the line, the matter is yet to be concluded.
More than two spent cartridges were recovered from both scenes, raising questions how someone who committed suicide if any, shot himself more than once.
They both had bullet wounds in the head and were fired from the right side and exited to the left.
A Jericho pistol loaded with 13 bullets and a Trevor submachine gun with two magazines loaded with 30 bullets were found in the house.
Ngatia was on duty at the weekend, his colleagues said.
Scenes of crime officers also recovered two spent cartridges and one bullet head before the body was moved to the mortuary.
Ngatia, 35, had two children. He had apparently separated with his wife two years ago, a family friend said.
“He did not look stressed when we met last Friday and we are waiting for a word from the police on the incident,” a close family member said.
He had on April 10 bought spare parts for his car as he planned to travel to his Nyeri home during the Easter holidays.
A team of detectives from Thika and Juja are investigating the incident.
Recce squad, which forms part of the presidential escort unit, is one of the best-trained team in the country as it takes care of the President, his Deputy, as well as their families.
A family spokesman said Ngatia was initially attached to State House before he was moved to the DP’s office.
The body of a second officer, constable Dennis Kamau Ndung’u, attached to State House, was found with bullet wound in the head in a hotel room in Mombasa’s Nyali area.
Police authorities said the body of Ndung’u was found in the room Tuesday at about 11am.
He was on official duty to Mombasa with his boss who reported the discovery of the body.
What puzzled police who visited the scene was the discovery of three spent cartridges and 12 live bullets and a Glock pistol next to the body.
A smashed mobile phone was also recovered at the scene. Officials said it is hard for one to fire more than one bullets in a suicide incident.
“Unless he fired to test the pistol and damaged the mobile phone,” an officer who attended the scene said.
Another officer, constable David Koech Kurgat, was found dead in Mombasa near Bandari Sacco after an apparent suicide.
Officials said he used his AK-47 rifle to shoot himself in the chest. He died instantly. A spent cartridge alongside the weapon were found at the scene.
The motive of the incident is yet to be known. Police spokesman Bruno Shioso said they are professionally investigating the incidents.
“For now they are being treated as suicide as the probe goes on,” he said.
Police officers’ relationships with their families, their colleagues and seniors, among other issues, have been identified as some of the causes of such incidents.
Police received a report on the causes of shootings by officers targeting their colleagues.
The probe was done by a team of officers, led by Aggrey Adoli, with a view to establishing the causes and giving remedial actions.
Officials say trauma is the main reason for such behaviour. The study found out police are generally at the receiving end of all community problems.
They are expected to maintain law and order in very difficult situations. They put their lives at risk as soon as they leave home every day.
Police officers are often in touch with extremely painful issues in the community such as murder and rape, which stresses them. The stress can be passed to immediate family members.
In 2019, Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai launched a new programme, Muamko Mpya (Healing the Uniform Initiative), to give psychological support to officers.
Mutyambai said police officers, who are often exposed to trauma that creates deep emotional scars, need healing.
“The ultimate goal of the initiative is to provide officers with knowledge, tools and a framework to assist them to support each other while handling traumatic situations,” Mutyambai said.
“They encounter most of these situations on personal and professional levels.”
He ordered police heads to ensure counselling is integrated in the police training curriculum.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
“WATCH: The latest videos from the Star”
