Police officer in Dr Mutiso murder had character issues, colleagues say

DCI boss Mohamed Amin displays firearm allegedly used during the murder of Dr Victoria Mutiso. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

The latest revelation by the Director of Criminal Investigation, Mohamed Amin, that police officers were involved in the assassination of city psychiatrists adds to the mud the disciplined force has gotten on them.

Arguably, it is under Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Inspector General Douglas Kanja that the police have been implicated in some of the worst crimes.

From murder to abduction to brutality, there is a police name dangled in many of these cases.

A peek into the lives of the three officers suspected to have played a part in the city killing shows all was not well for years.

As detectives pursue police officers linked to the murder of renowned mental health researcher Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso, it is emerging that the cops were leading dark lives laced with complaints and allegations of misconduct.

As if it was a matter of when, not if, for Inspector Kenneth Kipkemboi Sang, Police Constable Kiplangat Collins and Police Constable Elijah Kibelion Kimoi before they were exposed, more details about their past operations are coming out.

The trio have been identified by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) as having meticulously planned and executed the gruesome murder of Dr Mutiso

According to the detectives, IP Sang supplied the firearm used in the murder, while PC Kimoi pulled the trigger and Kiplagat was allegedly placed in the crime scene by forensic evidence.

"Thorough analysis of the evidence has further established the identity of the officer who pulled the trigger. No. 91232 PC Elijah Kibelion Kimoi, attached to Karinde Police Post under Kikuyu Police Station, has been arrested. He is the individual identified as having fatally shot Dr. Mutiso," DCI Director Mohamed Amin said last Friday.

While two officers, Sang and Kiplagat, remain at large, officers at Nderi Police Post, where Sang was listed as the officer in charge, have described him as a rogue officer who rarely reported to the post and allegedly used his position to intimidate and extort members of the public.

One of his colleagues said Sang’s presence at the post was largely on paper, claiming he had reported for duty only once before disappearing back to Kikuyu Police Station.

“He was not really working here. His first report was on May 13,” the officer said, adding that Sang rarely came to the station despite being listed in official records as the officer in charge.

The officer said Sang had collected the post’s firearm assigned to him when he reported but returned it on July 30, claiming he was going to the hospital.

“He said he had a sick person and would return in the evening. He has never returned to this day,” the colleague confided to The Sunday Standard.

DCI boss Mohamed Amin displays exhibits a Landcruiser Prado that was allegedly used during the murder of Dr Victoria Mutiso. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

According to the officer, Sang had become a source of complaints from residents over his conduct, particularly in bars where he allegedly arrested revellers and owners and demanded huge sums of money.

“I told him to stop harassing wananchi. He would arrest people in bars and demand a lot of money so that people could see that he was the big man here,” the officer said.

The colleague described Sang as a “rogue police officer”, saying his conduct had forced him to repeatedly caution him against mistreating members of the public.

Sang’s reputation had allegedly preceded him to Nderi.

Residents of Thogoto, where Sang served briefly before being transferred, said residents had complained about his conduct, accusing him of demanding money from people seeking police services.

“When you went to report a case, there was no service you could get. If you found him at the station, you had to give him something for your case to be handled. If you had no money, he would simply leave your case unattended,” said a resident who did not want to be named.

He also recalled an incident in which a resident was allegedly killed a short distance from Thogoto Police Post just moments after reporting that he was not feeling safe with the officers failing to take action.

"There is a man who was killed when he was the Inspector here (Thogoto). He had disagreed with his colleagues and rushed to report but he was turned away and told to report back the following day but his colleagues took advantage and killed him," he claimed.

This incident, he said, sparked outrage from the residents, resulting in his transfer after public protests.

“He was chased away by residents in Thogoto. Residents demonstrated and he was removed and transferred to Karinde,” the resident said.

Police Constable Elijah Kimoi, who allegedly pulled the trigger that killed Dr Victoria Mutiso. [Courtesy]

Another officer described Sang as a promising young officer whose career appeared headed for rapid progression before his alleged misconduct derailed it.

“He was someone with good career progression but then he ruined it. He was very young and could have risen through the ranks very well,” the officer said.

At Thogoto, residents also accused Sang of reckless behaviour, alleging that he sometimes visited bars while armed and in full combat gear.

“He was very arrogant. He would even go drinking in bars while in full combat gear. He liked showing off,” one resident said.

The allegations have cast fresh questions over the conduct of officers who were supposed to protect members of the public but are now linked to one of the most closely watched murder investigations.

Residents who interacted with Sang now say the allegations have left them questioning how an officer they trusted with their security could allegedly have been involved in such a serious crime.

“We were very shocked when Dr Mutiso was killed. We now realise that there was a killer among those we had entrusted with our lives,” a Thogoto resident said.

PC Kimoi, the officer who has been named by detectives as the suspect who pulled the trigger in the assassination of Dr. Mutiso, reports now show, was once accused of murder and remanded for six years.

Court documents seen by this publication indicate that Kimoi and five other police officers were accused of the killing.

PC Kimoi, according to the documents, was the second accused in the murder of Stephen Gichuhi Njoroge. The crime was allegedly committed on January 14, 2011, along Slaughter Earth Road at Ruaka area in Gigiri, Nairobi.

They were arraigned in court in October 2012 where they pleaded not guilty to the offence.

Police Constable Elijah Kimoi, who allegedly pulled the trigger that killed Dr Victoria Mutiso. [Courtesy]

The Sunday Standard could not verify if he was acquitted of the offence and how he was reinstated to duty by the time of publication.

Meanwhile, officers drawn from the DCI headquarters and Kikuyu Police Station have intensified operations to hunt down the missing officers.

Some moved through Nderi, Dagoretti, Karinde and Thogoto police posts, parading and combing through firearms records as they piece together evidence in the murder of the mental expert.

The allegations from colleagues and the public who have interacted with the accused officers paint a grim picture about the character of those with whom their lives are entrusted even as detectives piece together Sang’s movements, professional history and relationships with other officers linked to Dr Mutiso’s killing.

As Kenyans are grappling with insecurity both in cities and villages, independent investigations paint a worrying picture that police killings and brutality have shot up in the past two years.

In 2024, for instance, about 70 Kenyans died during the infamous Gen Z protest when youths stormed the Parliament following rage over a controversial Finance Bill.

That was on June 25, when police opened fire on unarmed protestors, leaving tens dead outside the National Parliament, while others succumbed to bullet wounds later and others were left with lifetime wounds.

While no apology has come from the government, President William Ruto recently announced compensation to the families; it is still unclear whether all of them will get compensated.

One year later, at least twelve people were killed and more than 400 others wounded on Wednesday as Gen Z-led protests marking the first anniversary of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations spiralled into nationwide violence.

Fatalities were reported in Nairobi’s Ngara, Embakasi, Molo, Matuu, Emali, Ol Kalou, Ongata Rongai, Juja and Kikuyu, where police reportedly opened fire on protesters, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). Amnesty International placed the death toll at 16.

19-year-old Eric Otieno, who succumbed after he was detained at Muthaiga Police Station on August 1, 2026 is the latest victim of police-linked killing.

In June 2025, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) published a monitoring report detailing police response to protests held in June and July 2025 across Kenya.

The findings established that 65 fatalities, 342 civilian injuries, and 171 police injuries were documented, and over 1000 people were arrested.

More worrying, the report said there was widespread use of excessive force, concealed identities, and failure to provide medical aid.

The authority called for respect for the right to peaceful protest (Article 37), use of body cameras, proper police identification, and medical support and reforms to the Public Order Act and better community policing.

However, a case that portrayed a rogue police service was the killing of teacher Albert Ojwang, who was ferried from Homa-Bay all the way to Nairobi only to be killed in police cells.

In an attempted cover-up, authorities first claimed that Ojwang died after hitting his head on a wall in the city at Central Police Station. He was accused of tarnishing the reputation of a senior police officer.

Days later three officers—Samson Kiprotich Talaam (former Central Police Station OCS), James Mukhwana, and Peter Kimani—were arrested in connection with the murder of teacher Albert Ojwang.

Then on June 30, 2025, police shot hawker Boniface Kariuki at close range, leaving him for dead during a protest in Nairobi. The officer who pulled the trigger was later identified as Constable Klinzy Masinde Barasa.

He was charged with the murder of Kariuki, who was shot in the head outside Imenti House in Nairobi's Central Business District during anti-government protests on June 17, 2025.

A recent case is that of Eric Otieno, who succumbed after being detained at Muthaiga police station on August 1, 2026.

His family claimed that, at the station, Otieno was subjected to a beating that left him unable to stand, complaining of severe pains on his abdomen. His death reignited concerns about the safety of suspects in police custody after a postmortem linked his death to beatings.