Renson Mwakandana
Today, a trial for four Kenyan police officers who are accused of orchestrating a string of homicides, kidnappings, and acts of torture will begin in the Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
They were a part of an elite unit that was dissolved by President William Ruto for allegedly murdering and displacing suspects extrajudicially over an extended period of time.
Two Indian nationals who went missing in July and whose bodies were found last week in a wilderness in central Kenya were among their accused most recent victims.
The now-disbanded Special Services Unit personnel are accused of several crimes, including murder, official misconduct, and conspiracy to commit offenses. After the president was provided with a police report regarding the abduction of the two Indian citizens, the squad was dissolved.
While in Kenya to support Mr. Ruto’s election campaign, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai vanished together with their local driver Nicodemus Mwania not long after being apprehended by police in Nairobi.
According to independent investigations conducted by human rights organizations, the squad and other police units are responsible for the deaths of more than 600 persons in the last four years.
Later, several of the remains were discovered in western and northern Kenyan rivers. Currently, a combination of national and international NGOs is urging the government to bring charges against the errant officers and reimburse the victims of police brutality.
