The inquest into the June 2024 shooting of Rex Masai is set to continue today at the Milimani Law Courts.
This comes following fresh testimony linking key witnesses to activity in Nairobi’s Central Business District during the material period.
On September 15, Safaricom PLC manager Zachary Kirogoi Mburu testified that a mobile phone number registered to Isaiah Murangiri had generated signals across several network sites in the city.
This is despite Murangiri’s earlier claim that he had stopped using the line a year prior.
Mburu told Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo that the company had produced call data records and location details for three numbers, registered under Murangiri, Benson Kamau, and Michael Oginga Okello, pursuant to two court orders.
The logs, covering June 18 to June 20, 2024, indicated that the numbers were active and signals were captured from masts serving Wincer House, Accra House, Kencom, St. Ellis, KBC Towers, and Hill Town.
Mburu explained that a subscriber only needs to be within the coverage radius of a mast for their activity to be recorded.
“Within Nairobi CBD, the coverage radius is approximately five kilometres, which explains why Kencom picked him,” he said, adding that factors such as mast density influence signal capture.
The prosecution argued that Mburu’s testimony contradicted Murangiri’s earlier statements, potentially placing him in the city centre during the relevant period.
Also testifying was Senior Superintendent of Police Alex Mutindi Mwandawiro, a ballistic expert at the DCI headquarters, who examined a damaged bullet jacket delivered by IPOA for forensic analysis.
Mwandawiro concluded that the findings were inconclusive because the firearms supplied were of different calibres, and the bullet jacket did not match the pistols presented.
The magistrate directed the matter to continue on September 25, 2025, when further witnesses are expected to testify.
Rex Masai was shot during the 2024 protests along Moi Avenue in Nairobi against the Finance Bill, an incident that saw police clash with demonstrators, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.
The inquest aims to determine the circumstances surrounding
the shooting and to identify persons of interest.
