Court summons top officer in Baby Pendo's inquest

A Kisumu magistrate's court has summoned a senior police officer who has been adversely mentioned in the inquest seeking to find justice for Baby Pendo.

Mohamed Ali, a police inspector who was one of the two officers commanding 16 police officers in Nyalenda on the day the baby died, according to a deployment order presented in court, is expected to appear on July 9.

This is after prosecutor Nyakundi Mokaya made an application to have the officer brought to court.

Mr Mokaya told the court that the officer had been adversely mentioned during the course of the proceedings hence the need to summon him to shed light on some of the issues that had been raised concerning him.

Pendo, whose death made headlines at the height of the 2017 post-election chaos, died of internal bleeding after allegedly being hit on the head by police officers.

Commanded team

Last week, Linah Kogei, an inspector in charge of Nyalenda Police Post, told the court that Mr Ali commanded a team of officers in Nyalenda during the period the infant died, adding that she was guarding the station at the time.

She said a contingent of officers conducted the raid where the incident occurred but denied that she was part of the team.

In the deployment order presented in court, Ali was said to have deputised Ms Kogei in Nyalenda during operations to maintain law and order.

Chief Magistrate Beryl Omollo said the officer should appear in court during the next proceedings.

Earlier, another senior officer was taken to task to prove that officers under his command were not part of the joint team that allegedly assaulted Baby Pendo.

Kisumu Central AP Commander Benjamin Koima denied that two officers listed in an operations order were on duty in Nyalenda during the period in question.