Monday September 3, 2018
ALPHONCE MUNG'AHU and STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Garissa governor Ali Korane
DCI George Kinoti has taken over investigations into the attempted murder of former Garissa Finance executive Idriss Muktar who was shot in the head two weeks ago.
Idriss remains in a coma at Nairobi Hospital’s ICU in an incident in which the main suspect “committed suicide” at Parklands police station. Garissa governor Ali Korane recorded a statement.
Kinoti has moved the investigation from Kilimani CID chief Fatuma Hadi to the homicide unit at CID headquarters. Hadi is alleged to have ignored Idriss’s complaint that Flying Squad officers had been trailing him for days. Hadi is also alleged to have been keeping the investigation file in her house.
Idriss’s family yesterday said it feared it will not get justice. The family, which spoke through lawyer Charles Kanjama, pointed a finger at Korane, whom it said is a “prime suspect” in the shooting of their son. Idriss was keen to establish Korane’s academic qualifications.
Kanjama told reporters prior to the shooting, Idriss had instructed him to write to the University of Nairobi seeking clarification on the governor’s academic documents.
He said he received a reply confirming the governor never attended or obtained academic documents from the institution. “Now we have some crucial information that some senior official from IEBC is trying to assist the governor to replace fake academic documents with those they are pursuing to obtain from the US,” the family said. But Korane said he was not involved in the attempted murder of Idriss. Speaking in Dertu Secondary School in Dadaab during a prize-giving day on Saturday, he attributed his tribulations to politics. “It is unfortunate that in this incident, things have taken a different angle where I am now being accused of being involved. I want to state categorically that I was not involved. I don’t stand to benefit in any way,” he said.
Idriss’s family said that since the governnor and his brother recorded statements with police, investigators have been pulled out of the case, creating fear whether the “real suspects” will be charged with the attempted murder of Idriss.
They said the suspect who died in a cell had given police information on how the plot was organised, but feared his evidence will not be used. Idriss was shot three times in the head in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, on August 19. CCTV footage shows a lone gunman walking towards his car.