Rangers charged with fisherman's abduction still on duty, court told

Six Kenya Wildlife Service Officers charged with abducting a fisherman in Nakuru are still in service.

The Assistant Director in charge of Lake Nakuru National Park, Emmanuel Koech, yesterday confirmed that the six rangers accused of the abduction of Brian Odhiambo have not been interdicted.

Koech told the court that senior and junior officers were transferred, including his predecessor, David Oyugi.

“I can confirm that all the transfers were done after the incidents. However, the six suspects are still working within the park,” Koech testified yesterday evening before Principal Magistrate Kipkurui Kibelion.

Asked why the six, including Senior Sergeant Francis Wachira, rangers Alexander Lorogoi, Isaac Ochieng, Michael Wabukala, Evans Kimaiyo, and Abdulrahaman Sudi, were not interdicted, he said they were yet to be convicted.

Koech, however, said that they had initiated an orderly disciplinary proceeding against the six, which would inform the next cause of action.

“The disciplinary process is not concluded yet, and that is why the rangers are still working with us,” he testified.

He was unable to explain why the process had taken so long because the officers pleaded to the abduction charge on May 5.

In defence, Koech said that interdicting them would have a serious repercussion if the six are cleared of the abduction charge.

Koech confirmed that the six rangers were on duty and were assigned roles to go and apprehend residents linked to crimes against the park.

He testified that they were armed, but at times, when their handcuffs are few, the officers can use ropes to tie suspects.

Despite providing records that the rangers went on an assignment, Koech said he had no records that arrests were made that day.

This was despite five rangers testifying that they arrested a man suspected to be Odhiambo, plus at least nine others who were recorded at the offices before being transferred to a police station.

“It is not proper for arrests to be made and not recorded. The proper way would be for the arrest to be documented,” he testified.

Interestingly, Koech said that cases of escapees within the park can or may not be documented, depending on the incident.

Koech shocked the attentive court when he said that some arrested suspects do escape and the same is not recorded.

He went further to admit that once a suspect escapes, he would trust the words of a ranger.

“They are not held responsible; they just come and explain what happened. If the same is satisfactory, we leave the matter, or the rangers would be held responsible,” he testified.

He said that the alleged incident was not new to him in his other stations but it was new in Nakuru.

Despite insisting that he was well briefed about the incident, Koech failed to answer simple questions of records.

“I have not been fully briefed on all the information concerning the incident. I have no records of arrests on January 18,” admitted Koech after being pressed.

Further, Koech testified that once a suspect is arrested, he should be escorted by at least two rangers. In contrast, he then claimed that a driver ranger was capable of securing a suspect on his own.

He confirmed that Sudi, said to be the last person seen by the suspect believed to be Odhiambo, did not report his alleged escape from custody.

Koech’s testimony came even after data records from Safaricom placed Lorogoi, Ochieng, Wabukala and Kimaiyo at the same location as Odhiambo.

Hassan Salalo testified that a phone number he received, said to be Odhiambo's, placed him at the Kivumbini estate, same location as the four rangers, between 10 am to 10.45am on January 18.

Salalo testified that he had no record to show where Wachira was at that time, and Sudi’s phone showed he was in a different location.

The hearing of the case continues on September 1.