Aboud Rogo Mohammed before the Mombasa Chief Magistrate where he was
charged for being in possession of illegal firearms in this file photo.
The taskforce charged with investigating the murder of the controversial
muslim cleric has failed to to identify the killers and instead
recommended a public inquest.
Nation Media Group
Monday, August 26, 2013
The
taskforce charged with investigating the murder of the controversial
muslim cleric Sheikh Aboud Rogo has failed to identify the killers and
instead recommended a public inquest.
Taskforce chairman Jacob Ondari has said potential witnesses cowed away from giving the information.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko says inquest will be formed immediately.
A
report presented to the Director of Public Prosecutions on Monday
stated that the taskforce met a dead end when the crime scene got
contaminated and potential witnesses cowed away.
“During
investigations and despite several appeals by the Taskforce and the
police in various media, the public did not come forward to volunteer
information regarding the crime despite assurances given by the Task
Force,” the report states.
“Witnesses
were not free to volunteer information hence impacting negatively on
the flow of information and the quality of evidence.”
The
team drawn from the police, the Law Society of Kenya, Director of
Public Prosecutions (DPP) office, Independent Police Oversight
Authority, Ombudsman and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
(KNCHR) says despite leads on how the killers looked like, there was no
tangible clue to identify the killers.
“There
is no doubt Aboud Rogo was murdered. In this one, we have descriptions
of people who killed Aboud Rogo, but we have not had the opportunity to
put these descriptions on particular persons.
We
do not have any names, other that the description that the killers were
of Arab origin,” the Taskforce Chairman Jacob Ondari told reporters in
Nairobi.
“With the number of bullets
fired at the vehicle, we do not know whether these were marksmen or
amateurs, but it appears they knew their target,” he added.
Sheikh
Rogo was killed on Monday August 27 last year as he drove his wife to
hospital along the Mombasa-Malindi highway by unknown assailants. The
assassination resulted in unprecedented protests as rowdy youth pelted
stones, and even explosives, at the police.
Sheikh
Rogo was a controversial preacher who the US suspected was involved in
terrorist activities. The US though denied having a hand in his murder.
On
Monday, the team of ten members reported that there were challenges in
the search for truth, and recommend that a public inquest be formed to
get the true picture as soon as possible.