OCS arrested over alleged defilement of 16-year-old girl

 Lumakanda Officer Commanding Station is facing investigation over alleged defilement of minor. [Bernard Lusigi, Standard]

Police in Kakamega have arrested Lumakanda Officer Commanding Station over allegations of defiling a 16-year-old girl at their home in Kambi Moto, Lugari Constituency.

The officer took advantage of the minor after advising her parents to leave their house to avoid a police raid.

However, the officer was arrested after the girl’s mother, Linet Minayo, returned home and found that he had allegedly committed the heinous act.

Kakamega County Police Commander Tom Achiya confirmed that the OCS was in police custody as investigations into the matter continue.

“He (OCS) has been arrested and we are conducting investigations into the matter to establish the truth and ensure the investigation goes on uninterrupted,” Achiya told the Standard.

According to a police report filed at Lumakanda Police Station, the incident occurred at Kambi Moto area in Kipkaren River on Saturday night.

The report, filed under OB No. 14/27/09/2026 at 12.07pm, states that the OCS contacted Minayo at about 11pm and allegedly told her that a multi-agency team was planning a night raid in the area.

The officer reportedly advised Minayo and her husband, Sammy Wanjala alias Arafat, not to spend the night at their home.

Minayo told The Standard that the officer offered to transport the couple to White House Bar in Musembe, where they would wait until the operation ended.

“He called us and told us there was an operation and that we should leave the house because officers were moving around arresting people. He said he did not want to arrest us because we were his people,” she said.

Minayo said they accepted the offer because they knew the officer and had previously interacted with him in connection with their business of selling alcohol.

She claimed that the OCS ferried them to Musembe and promised to return at about 5am.

However, Minayo said she became suspicious and convinced her husband to return home.

“But my heart told me to return home even if it meant being arrested,” she said.

She said they did not even enter White House Bar.

“We had not even entered White House Bar. We stood outside the gate for about five minutes before I told my husband that we should go back home,” she said.

The couple hired a motorcycle and Minayo said, they spotted the OCS’s private vehicle parked near a shop.

When they reached their home, they allegedly found the door locked.

The couple called out their daughter and asked her to open the door before entering the house, where they allegedly found the OCS.

“I am the one who found him in the house with my child. I did not hear it from somebody else,” Minayo said.

The police report states that the officer was allegedly found inside the house wearing unbuttoned shorts and carrying shoes in his hands.

The couple reportedly confronted him over his presence in the house.

According to the police report, the OCS allegedly tried to persuade the couple not to escalate the matter and offered them some money.

Minayo claimed that she found two condoms on a table, one allegedly used.

“I asked him why he had decided to disrespect us, and he started defending himself,” she said.

According to the police report, Minayo allegedly picked up the two condoms but the officer brandished his firearm and threatened to shoot if she did not surrender them, forcing her to hand them back.

Minayo said the confrontation escalated and she feared that it could have deadly consequences.

“I realised that if we continued arguing, he could shoot us. I pretended to accept the money, and when he left, I took my phone and started calling people,” she said.

According to the police report, the officer took the couple’s mobile phones after attempting to make a call using Minayo’s phone.

He is also alleged to have given Minayo Sh20,000 to buy her silence before leaving.

Minayo claimed that she later handed the money to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

She said she had known the officer for some time and respected him for assisting residents during police operations.

“He would tell us when there was a problem and advise us to stay away. When he came, we would give him “tea,” said Minayo.

The woman said she never suspected that the officer could target her daughter.

“I never expected him to do something like this in my house. I was shocked,” she said.

She further claimed that her daughter had encountered the officer before and the latest incident was the second one.

The police report states that the girl was found behind the house, lying on old iron sheets.

She was taken to Lumakanda Sub-County Hospital for medical attention.

Police officers visited the scene, including the Chekalini OCS, Lumakanda Deputy OCS and a Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations (D/DCIO).

The family was awaiting a P3 medical examination form.

Sammy Wanjala, the father of the minor, said he was duped by the officer about the police raid, only to find him with his daughter.

“He told us that there was a raid at night that we escaped without knowing he had ill motive against my daughter. I found him inside my house half naked,” claimed Wanjala.

“I confronted him but he pulled out a pistol and threatened us not to expose him, he grabbed the used and unused condoms from my wife’s hand, bribed us with Sh20,000 and left,” he claimed.

Wanjala, wants Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to intervene and ensure the family gets justice and their safety guaranteed.

“I want to petition the CS to guarantee my family’s safety because right now I cannot take my daughter to where she used to go to school. I am worried about her security and I am calling for justice,” he said.

The victim is a Grade Eight student.

Locals led by Julia Andia strongly condemned the incident and demanded the intervention of the Interior CS to ensure action against rogue police officers.

“We are extremely shocked by this unfortunate incident. Someone who is supposed to protect Kenyans is turning against them. It means we have two laws, one for the rich and the other one for the poor,” said Julia Andia, a Kambi Moto resident.

She added: “We want Murkomen to intervene and move with speed to ensure justice prevails because if it were a civilian, things could move quickly. We don’t want selection of justice because one is a police officer or a government official.”

Andia alleged that the OCS has been harassing locals.

“OCS has been harassing locals and threatening those opposing his actions. He has been walking with a knife and pistol and demanding bribes from those he has arrested or framed for certain crimes,” claimed Andia.

By the time of going to press, the mother of the victim was still held up at Lumakanda Hospital with officials from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives, filling out the medical report.

The arrest of the OCS has triggered investigations into how he allegedly accessed the family’s home and the circumstances surrounding his presence there.

Police said the investigations would establish what happened and ensure that evidence relating to the allegations is preserved.

Achiya said the matter was being investigated and that the arrest of the officer was intended to allow the process to proceed without interference.

The OCS was previously linked to the alleged rape of a female recruit at the National Police College in Kiganjo, Nyeri Court.

However, the case before High Court Judge James Wakiaga was withdrawn in 2013 to pave the way for a police inquiry into the rape allegations.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Job Kaigai urged the court to withdraw the case, to allow police to complete their inquiry.

The OCS, who is a drill instructor, was alleged to have sexually abused the recruit, who reported the matter to her superiors before the officer was dragged to court.

The prosecution requested the withdrawal of the charges to allow police to conduct a thorough internal inquiry, arguing that the case had been brought prematurely to court before the full circumstances of the incident were established.