Editorials

EDITORIAL: Expedite death probe

tobiko

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko. file photo | nmg

The killings of six-month-month old baby Samantha Pendo in Kisumu and Stephanie Moraa, 9, in Nairobi in August left a blot on Kenya’s bitterly contested 2017 presidential election whose outcome is still the subject of a Supreme Court petition.

For the families of the two children, the loss must have been aggravated by public statements from the police service that appeared to cover up the involvement of its officers in the killings.

As it were, Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko on Wednesday ordered for a public inquest into Moraa’s death and recommended compensation to the two families by the State.

The chief prosecutor, acting on the report of the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), also backed disciplinary action against four top police commanders for negligence and obstructing efforts to identify junior officers who brutalised Baby Pendo.

Mr Tobiko’s interest in these cases gives some hope that justice may done.

But given the victims’ underprivileged backgrounds, their pursuit of justice could also easily run into bureaucratic headwinds associated with the country’s criminal justice system as soon as it falls off media radar.

The DPP should ensure the investigations are expedited and that the families are compensated. For justice delayed is justice denied.