DPP drops case linking officers to Indians' death

Fifteen security officers who spent more than two years in custody without trial are set to walk to freedom after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga dropped charges linking them to the murder of two Indian nationals and their Kenyan driver.

The officers included 13 officers from the disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU), a National Intelligence Service (NIS) officer and a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officer were accused of the murder of two Indian nationals Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan, Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai who had been allegedly linked to President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential campaign digital team, where they were reported to have contributed to the Kenya Kwanza campaign’s digital strategy.

In a formal notice filed at the Kiambu High Court on June 19, 2026, Ingonga, through Senior Assistant DPP Gikui Gichuhi, informed the court that he wished to withdraw the Murder case against the 15 officers charged over the deaths of Khan, Kidwai, and their driver, Nicodemus Mwania Mwange.

" In exercise of powers conferred on the Director of Public Prosecutions by Article 157(6) of the Constitution of Kenya under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code and delegated to me under Section 83 of the Criminal Procedure Code, I hereby enter a nolle prosequi and inform this Court that the republic intends that proceedings against the 15 accused who are charged with the offence of Murder Contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code shall not continue henceforth," the notice reads.

The DPP entered a nolle prosequi, a legal move meaning the State no longer wished to prosecute, but did not provide reasons for withdrawing the murder case against the accused persons.  

The decision marks the second time the charges against the officers over the matter have been withdrawn.

The officers who have been in custody for over two years after being denied bail had initially faced charges before the Kahawa Law Courts over the alleged enforced disappearance of the three victims, before the case was later moved to the High Court, where they were charged with murder.

The 15 officers are, namely, John Macharia Wanjiru, Peter Muthee Gachiko, James Kibosek Tanki, Joseph Mbugua Kamau, Simon Muhuga Gikonyo, David Chepching Kipsoi, Stephen Luseno Matunda, John Mwangi Kamau, Paul Njogu Muriithi, Hillary Kipchumba, Fredrick Thuku Kamau, Joseph Mwenda Mbaya, Boniface Otieno Mtulla, Elikana Njeru Mugendi, and Michael Kiplangat Bett, a KWS officer.

While John Macharia Wanjiru is an NIS officer and the rest are DCI police officers who were attached to the now-disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU).

DPP alleged that the 15 officers allegedly committed on the night of July 22 and 23, 2022, near Ole Sereni Hotel along Mombasa Road, Nairobi County.

The officers had denied the charges and denied bail.

In May 2025, Justice Abigail Mshila of the High Court had ordered the DPP to withdraw the abduction charges pending at Kahawa Law Courts within 21 days, after dismissing the DPP's application to consolidate those proceedings with the murder case.

The court, however, allowed the murder charges to proceed, a prosecution the DPP has now also abandoned.

The judge ruled that the application did not meet the required threshold and noted that the DPP had powers to discontinue proceedings either through a nolle prosequi or under Section 87A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The accused officers had challenged the prosecution, arguing that the decision to charge them amounted to abuse of power and violated Article 157(11) of the Constitution, which requires the DPP to exercise prosecutorial powers without abuse or interference.

Ingonga, however, maintained that the Office of the DPP was constitutionally mandated to make prosecutorial decisions based on evidence and investigations.

At Kahawa, the officers had faced additional counts of abduction with intent to murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, subjecting persons to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and forgery of official documents.