The Milimani magistrate court has directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate reports that a phone under Ipoa custody was allegedly used to send suspicious messages soliciting money.
It is alleged that the phone belonging to Central Police Station OCS Samson Talam had continued to send text messages of a suspicious nature, allegedly aimed at soliciting money, even after being seized by IPOA.
Senior Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi warned the defense counsel against using the matter to question the integrity of IPOA.
“For abundance of caution, let’s not try to interfere with investigations. Let the mandated body do the task because of how serious this case is,” the magistrate said.
“Let the matter settle and DCI to take over the investigations,” he added.
The directive was issued following submissions by the defence raising concerns that the phone, which was being held as an item of evidence for investigations on the murder of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang, is said to be soliciting money.
The investigating officer is expected to appear in court today to respond to these allegations.
Appearing in court, investigating officer Abdirahman Jibril told the court that the phone was sealed in an official chain of custody envelope in the presence of himself and OCS Taalam, and has remained in that state.
IPOA forensic officer Ndwati Naphtali was also present in court and confirmed the integrity of the gadget.
However, defence counsel Danstan Omari objected to IPOA leading the investigations, claiming a potential conflict of interest.
"This falls as a suspected criminal act having been committed. We expect the IPOA offices to be treated as a crime scene,” Omari said.
He alleged that the exhibit in IPOA's custody was still sending messages, which raises serious concerns about tampering or improper handling.
“The respondent feels the case will not be properly investigated if IPOA continues handling it. Our instructions are clear that IPOA to step aside and let DCI take over,” he added.
Two witnesses, including the defense counsel, lawyer Cliff Ombeta, had earlier recorded their statements at Langata Police Station.
IPOA had written to the DCI on June 19, 2025, requesting it to take over conducting the investigations itself.
The phone in question reportedly belongs to the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) of Central Police Station and was previously surrendered to IPOA as part of an ongoing inquiry.
It had been handed over to IPOA by the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Central Police Station for forensic analysis.
The court ordered the DCI to file a full report on the matter.
The matter is set for directions on July 1, 2025, where the DCI is expected to bring their findings to court.
