Court gavel./FILE
The hearing into the circumstances surrounding the death of Rex Masai during the June 2024 anti-government protests has been adjourned to July 29, 2025, at 2:00 pm, following testimony from a key police witness.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo, Corporal Martin Githinji, an officer attached to the Central Police Station’s undercover intelligence unit, denied any involvement in the use of firearms during the protest period.
Githinji stated that neither he nor any officers under his command discharged their weapons at any point during the deployment.
He testified that on June 19, 2024, he reported for duty, was briefed, and deployed to River Road.
He was issued a Jericho pistol with 15 rounds of ammunition and confirmed returning the firearm with all rounds intact by 6:00 pm.
He emphasised that he personally signed for the weapon, as protocol prohibits officers from signing on behalf of others.
Questions were raised over entries in the firearm issuance register, where Githinji’s name appeared twice—once at the bottom of one page and again at the top of the next.
Githinji attributed the double entry to human error by the armoury officer and said an attempt was made to correct the duplication.
He acknowledged that the error may have caused confusion and could have given the impression that he or another officer had been issued two weapons.
Githinji also distanced himself from an earlier statement he gave to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), in which he was recorded as saying he had been issued a firearm on June 18, 2024.
On the stand, he said he had forgotten the specifics due to the passage of time and insisted that he had been on a duty that did not require a weapon that day.
He further stated there were no demonstrations on June 18 or 19, and during his June 20 deployment to River Road, he did not witness any unrest.
He told the court that he only became aware of the events of that day through social media and television.
During his testimony, Githinji also confirmed that officer Simon Waweru, whose name was linked to firearm issuance records during the same period, was under his command.
He said he personally saw the in-charge of the armoury cancel an incorrect entry made under Waweru’s name.
